Ozothamnus stirlingii

Ozothamnus stirlingii, commonly known as Ovens everlasting,^[2] is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and grows in New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. It has globose-shaped white flower heads and sticky leaves.

Ovens everlasting
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Ozothamnus
Species:	O. stirlingii
Binomial name
Ozothamnus stirlingii (F.Muell.) Anderb.[1]

Description

Ozothamnus stirlingii is a shrub to 3 m (9.8 ft) high with covered in short, matted hairs. The leaves are elliptic to lance-shaped, 65–80 mm (2.6–3.1 in) long, 10–13 mm (0.39–0.51 in) wide, upper surface dark green, smooth and sticky. The lower surface is light green or white, sticky, covered with a dense covering of short, matted hairs and on a petiole 5–7 mm (0.20–0.28 in) long. The flower head is a corymbose arrangement, 2–7 mm (0.079–0.276 in) in diameter, almost globe-shaped, white, capitula 5.5–8 mm (0.22–0.31 in) long and 5–8 mm (0.20–0.31 in) wide and containing in excess of 70 florets. The outer bracts slightly reflexed, hard, yellowish, oval-shaped with woolly edges, inner bracts with a white lamina. Flowering occurs from November to February and the fruit is a cypsela, egg-shaped and covered with bristles about 4 mm (0.16 in) long.^[2][3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

The species was described in 1889 by Ferdinand von Mueller who gave it the name Helichrysum stirlingii.^[5] In 1991 Arne A. Anderberg changed the name to Ozothamnus stirlingii and the description was published in Opera Botanica.^[6] The specific epithet (stirlingii) was in honour of Edward Charles Stirling.^[7]

Distribution and habitat

Ovens everlasting grows at higher altitudes in montane forests and subalpine woodland in New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory.^[2][3][4]