Olearia erubescens
{{short description|Species of plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Moth daisy-bush
|image = Olearia erubescens.jpg
|image_caption = Olearia erubescens
in Kinglake National Park, Victoria
|status =
|status_system =
|genus = Olearia
|species = erubescens
|authority = (Sieber ex Spreng.) Dippel{{cite web |title=Olearia erubescens |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/104145 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |accessdate=16 April 2022}}
|synonyms =
{{collapsible list|bullets = true
|title= List of synonyms
| Aster erubescens Sieber ex Spreng.
| Aster ilicifolius A.Cunn ex DC.
| Eurybia erubescens Sieber ex DC.
| Eurybia erubescens Sieber ex DC. var. erubescens
| Eurybia erubescens var. illicifolia DC.
| Olearia myrsinoides (DC.) Benth. var. erubescens
| Olearia myrsinoides (DC.) Benth. var. serrata
| Shawia erubescens (DC.) Sch.Bip.
| Shawia erubescens (DC.) Sch.Bip. var. erubescens
| Shawia erubescens var. illicifolia (DC.) Sch.Bip
}}
}}
Olearia erubescens, commonly known as moth daisy-bush or pink-tip daisy-bush,{{cite web |title=Olearia erubescens |url=https://bie.ala.org.au/species/http://id.biodiversity.org.au/node/apni/2912204 |website=Atlas of Living Australia |accessdate=17 May 2019}} is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a shrub with stiff, prickly leaves and white "daisy" flowers, growing up to 2 metres high.
Description
Olearia erubescens is a spreading woody shrub to {{convert|0.5-2|m|ft|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} high and {{convert|0.5-1|m|ft|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} wide when growing at lower altitudes in grassland and wooded gullies. It has a gnarled smaller growth habit at higher altitudes to {{convert|40|cm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} high. The branchlets are densely matted with soft whitish T-shaped hairs. The smooth upper leaf surface is dark green, flat and stiff with a distinctive pale network of veins. The leaves are on a short stalk {{convert|11|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long, arranged alternately, may be either sparse or crowded and end in a sharp point. The leaves are narrowly oval to oblong about {{convert|15-125|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|3-20|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} wide with small, coarse, irregular teeth or slightly lobed serrations along the margin. The leaf underside is thickly covered with white hairs, occasionally reddish when young. The inflorescence consists of 4-8 white flowers, occasionally a pinkish mauve, about {{convert|15-31|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} in diameter blooming at the end of branches on a peduncle about {{convert|1-4|cm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long. The flower clusters are borne in leaf axils on previous season shoots. The floret centre is yellow. The cone-shaped bracts are arranged in rows of 3-5 and {{convert|4.5-7|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long and covered in dense silky flat hairs. The dry fruit is one seeded, narrowly cylindrical {{convert|3-4|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long and ribbed. Flowering occurs from September to January.{{cite book |title=Wild Plants of Victoria (database)|year=2009 |publisher=Viridans Biological Databases & Department of Sustainability and Environment}}{{cite web |url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Olearia~erubescens= |title=Olearia erubescens |accessdate=2010-10-18 |author=|work= PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia}}{{cite web |title=Olearia erubescens |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/fcb6cc2a-f8c7-43c0-8885-771cb034bfb1 |website=VicFlora |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Foundation Victoria |accessdate=18 May 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Mullins |first1=Effie |title=Olearia erubescens |url=http://www.cpbr.gov.au/gnp/gnp13/olearia-erubescens.html |website=Growing Native Plants |publisher=Australian National Botanic Gardens |accessdate=18 May 2019}}{{cite book |last1=Fairley |first1=Alan |last2=Moore |first2=Philip |title=Native Plants of the Sydney Region |date=2010 |publisher=Jacana Books |isbn=978-1-74175-571-8}}
Taxonomy and naming
Olearia erubescens was first formally described by Franz Sieber as Aster erubescens but he did not publish the description. In 1826 Curt Sprengel published the description in his book Systema Vegetabilium.{{cite web |title=Aster erubescens |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/537338 |website=APNI |accessdate=20 May 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Sprengel |first1=Curt |title=Systema Vegetabilium |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/15254#page/526/mode/1up |website=Biodiversity Heritage Library |accessdate=20 May 2019}}{{cite web |title=Eurybia erubescens |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/529844 |website=APNI1 |accessdate=20 May 2019}}
Leopold Dippel in 1889 described Olearia erubescens and published the description in Handbuch der Laubholzkunde.{{cite web |title=Olearia erubescens |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/532932 |website=APNI |accessdate=20 May 2019}}
Augustin de Candolle published the description Eurybia erubescens in Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis in 1836 but makes no reference to Sprengels prior description of 1826.{{cite web |title=Eurybia erubescens |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/name/apni/107080/api/apni-format |website=APNI |accessdate=20 May 2019}}
The specific epithet (erubescens) is derived from the Latin meaning "grow red", "redden" or "blush"{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Roland Wilbur|title=The Composition of Scientific Words|date=1956|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.|page =651}} possibly referring to the new growth that is occasionally a reddish colour.
Distribution and habitat
Moth daisy bush is a widespread species on the coast and ranges from the Blue Mountains, west to Orange and Drake in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. Also found in South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. Grows in rocky situations, sclerophyll forests, woodland and montane forests.