808 LXV. COMPOSITE. \_Olearici. 



Involucre broadly ovoid or almost hemispherical, 3. to 4 lines diameter. > Ray- 

 florets 6 to 8 ; disk-florets rather more numerous. Style-appendages rather long. 

 Achenes slightly hairy. Pappus with few or many outer short bristles. — Eurybia 

 illita, F. V. M. Fragtii. i. 16 ; Aster illitus or Olearia iUita, F. v. M. Fragm. v 76. 

 Hab.: Near Warwick and Stanthorpe. 



10. O.' xerophila (found on dry land), F. v. M. Frcupn. v. 76 ; Benth. Fl. 

 Austr. iii. 486. A shrub, very glutinous'and hispid with septate hairs. Leaves 

 from obovate to oblong, obtuse, crenately toothed and almost crisped, narrowed 

 into a petiole, f to lin. long. Flower-heads not very large, on axillary 

 peduncles longer than the leaves, solitary or few in a loose corymb. Involucre 

 hemispherical, the bracts narrow, acute, in several rows, the inner ones about 2 

 lines long. Eay-florets 12 to 15 ; disk-florets numerous, much longer than the 

 involiici-e. Style-appendages lanceolate. Achenes silky-pubescent. Pappus 

 sometimes very Unequal, a few outer bristles quite short,' more rarely all nearly 

 equal. — EuYyhia xerophila, F. v. M. Fragm. i. 51 ; Aster xerophilus, F. v. M. 

 Fragm. v. 76 ; A. Heynei, F. v. M; Fragm. v. 86. 



Hab.: Sandy knolls, Warvego ; barren Tidges. Upper Burdekin and Cape Rivers. 



11. O. rudiS ('(Saarse), ^. v. M. Fragm. v. 75; Benth. Fl. Austr. iii. 487. 

 An erect shrub or nnasrslirub, more or less scabrous or hirsute with rigid 

 septate hairs or rarely nearly glabrous. Leaves obovate-oblong, oblong-cuneate 

 or broadly lanceolate, obtuse or rarely acute, coarsely and irregularly toothed or 

 nearly entire, mostly 1 to 2in. long, usually contracted below the middle, but 

 often broader and stem-clasping at the base. Flower-heads rather larger, 

 solitary or few together in a terminal corymb, the peduncles longer than the 

 leaves, thickened under the head, without any or only a single linear bract. 

 Involucre hemispherical, the bracts narrow, mostly acute, the inner ones about 

 4 lines long, the outer scarcely shorter. Ray-florets narrow, numerous ; disk- 

 florets scarcely so long as the involucre. Style- appendages very short. Achenes 

 glabrous or nearly so, slightly compressed, strongly striate. Pappus-bristles 

 nearly equal. — Eurybia rudin, Benth. in Hueg. Enum. 58 ; Steetz in PI. Preiss. 

 i. 418 ; Aster exiil, Lindl. Swan. Riv. App. 24 ; F. v. M. Fragm. v. 7,5. 



Hab.: Queensland, F.v. Mueller. 



15. PODOCOMA, Less.; E. Br. 

 (From the beak of the achene forming a foot to the pappus.) 

 (Podopappus, Hook, et Am.; Asteropsis, Less.}; Ixioohlamys, F. v. M.) 

 Involucre broadly ovoid or hemispherical, the bracts imbricate in several rows, 

 narrow, acute. Receptacle without scales. Florets of the ray female, numerous, 

 crowded in several rows, ligulate but very narrow. Disk-florets few, hermaphro- 

 dite, tubular but slender, usually 5-lobed. Anthers obtuse at the base. Style- 

 lobes somewhat flattened, with narrow tips or a{)pendages sometimes almost 

 subulate. Achenes short, flat, produced into a long or short slender beak. 

 Pappus of numerous capillary bristles. — Perennial herb. Leaves alternate. 

 Flower-heads large, terminal, solitary, or very loosely corymbose. 



Besides the Australian species, which is endemic, there are three from extratropical South 

 America. Notwithstanding the confusion arising from Lessing's having described the ray-florets 

 as 1-seriate, there seems little reason to doubt that Erigeron hieracifoUv/m, Poir. (or Podocoma 

 hieracifolia a,ni P. primuUfolia, G&ss.), is identical with Podopappus hirsutus. Hook. et. Arn., 

 and Asteropsis ■niacrocephala. Less., is most probably the same as Podopapprus tomentosus. Hook. 

 et Arn. The genus only differs from VittacUnia in the beaked achene, the length of the beak 

 varying even in the same species. — Benth. 



1. P. cuneifolia (leaves wedge- shaped), R. Br. App. Sturt.' Kxped. 17 ; 

 Benth. Fl. Austr. iii. 493. Stems much branched and almost woody at the base, 

 with ascending leafy branches rarely above 4 or 5in. high, without |he peduncles. 



