About Olearia lepidophylla (Pers.) Benth.
Olearia lepidophylla (Pers.) Benth. is a rigid, erect to spreading shrub that typically reaches a maximum height of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in). It has twiggy branchlets covered in woolly white hairs. Its leaves are alternately arranged along the branchlets, grow in clusters, and range from oblong to egg-shaped. Each leaf is 0.5–1.5 mm (0.020–0.059 in) long, 0.3–0.8 mm (0.012–0.031 in) wide, and more or less sessile. The leaf edges are rolled under, and the lower leaf surface is covered in pale grey, woolly hairs. The daisy-like flower heads are borne singly at the ends of branchlets, are 6–15 mm (0.24–0.59 in) in diameter, and are sessile. Each flower head holds four to seven white ray florets, with ligules 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long, that surround four to six yellow disc florets. Flowering takes place from March to June. The fruit is a silky-hairy achene, with a pappus made of 29 to 44 bristles. This species grows in mallee, heath, and on coastal sand dunes. It occurs in the Esperance Plains, Hampton and Mallee bioregions of Western Australia, south-eastern South Australia, mainly the far north-west of Victoria, south-western New South Wales, and on the coast and a small number of inland areas of Tasmania.
