Olearia crebra E.K.Cameron & Heenan

Small tree 4–7 m tall; trunks up to 20 cm diam., upright to spreading, sometimes decumbent; occasionally with epicormic shoots. Bark light grey, becoming rough on trunk and old branches, peeling in small plates. Leaves usually clustered in groups of 8–12 at branch tips, alternate; lamina 80–290 × 45–120 mm, elliptic, obovate to broadly oblanceolate, coriaceous; adaxial surface dark green, glabrous, glossy, midrib not raised, midrib and main lateral veins prominent, becoming obscure toward margin; abaxial surface light redbrown with dense appressed tomentum, becoming glabrous with age, midrib raised, midrib and main lateral veins prominent, becoming obscure toward margin; hairs T-shaped; margin slightly sinuate; apex obtuse; base cuneate to attenuate; petiole 10– 20 mm long, 2.0–4.5 mm wide, with dense appressed tomentum, becoming glabrous with age. Inflorescence a lateral panicle of 210–220 capitula. Capitulum 10–12 mm long, not scented. Pedicel 7– 15 mm long, densely covered with short, fulvous, antrorse hairs < 0.25 mm long. Bracteoles 1–4, 2.1– 2.5 × 0.7–0.8 mm, coriaceous, lanceolate to narrowly triangular; margin entire but often with a narrow membranous margin and sparse hairs up to 0.3 mm long; adaxial surface glabrous; abaxial surface sparsely to moderately hairy. Involucre cylindric; involucral bracts (30–)40–54, spiralled, 7–9 series, light brown, recurved at maturity; outer bracts 1.5– 2.6 × 0.8–1.4 mm, narrowly triangular, adaxial surface glabrous, abaxial surface sparsely to moderately hairy, particularly on midrib and exposed parts of bracts, margins fimbriate with hairs up to 0.3 mm long, apex acute to subacute; inner bracts 5.5–7.0 × 1.2–1.3 mm, lanceolate to narrow triangular, margin fimbriate with hairs up to 0.2 mm long or membranous, apex acute. Florets 18–26 per capitulum. Ray florets 10–15, pistillate; corolla glabrous, tube 2.7 mm long, ligulate with deflexed white limb, limb 3.5–8.0 × 1.2–1.6 mm with 2–3 small lobes at apex. Disc florets 8–11, hermaphrodite; corolla glabrous, white; tube c. 3.3 mm long, lobes 5, 1.5 × 0.6 mm. Stigma 3.7– 4.4 mm long; arms 1.6–1.9 mm long, arm adjacent to limb usually longer when immature. Ovary 1.5– 1.7 × c. 0.6 mm, sparsely hairy; hairs < 0.05 mm long, ± patent to spreading on ribs, appressed in furrows. Anthers 1.4–1.5 mm long, dehiscent in bud; apex c. 0.4 mm long, apiculate; tails 0.2–0.3 mm long, linear, translucent; filament 0.4–0.5 mm long, folded in bud. Cypselae 1.7–3.0 × 0.4–0.8 mm, narrow-cylindric, brown, with 5–6 pale ribs, ± glabrous to sparsely hairy; pappus 3.5–4.5 mm long, cream, finely scabrid, apex slightly clavate. Chromosome number 2n = 108 (Murray & de Lange 1999). FL Nov–Jan; FT Jan–Apr.

[Reproduced from Heenan & Cameron (2002, New Zealand J. Bot. 40: 535–542) with permission from The Royal Society of New Zealand.]