Olearia microdisca



Olearia microdisca, commonly known as small-flowered daisy-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to Kangaroo Island, South Australia. It is a compact shrub with small, crowded, oblong leaves and white and yellow, daisy-like inflorescences.

Description
Olearia microdisca is a compact shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 1.5 m and has many softly-hairy branches. Its leaves are crowded, sometime overlapping each other, oblong 1.5–2.5 mm long, about 1 mm wide and sessile. The upper surface of the leaves is glabrous, the lower surface is woolly-hairy and the edges are rolled under. The heads or daisy-like "flowers" are arranged singly on the ends of erect branches and sessile. Each head has two to five white ray florets, the ligules about 3 mm long, surrounding two or three yellow disc florets. Flowering occurs in most months and the fruit is a softly-hairy achene, the pappus about 2 mm long with 25 to 35 bristles.

Taxonomy
Olearia microdisca was first formally described in 1928 by John McConnell Black in Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia.

Distribution and habitat
Small-flowered daisy-bush grows in heath and mallee and is restricted to Kangaroo Island in South Australia.

Conservation status
Olearia microdisca is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. A recovery plan for nationally threatened plant species on Kangaroo Island, including O. microdisca, has been prepared.