Plants of
South Australia
Olearia arckaringensis
Asteraceae
Arckaringa Daisy
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Prior names

Olearia sp. Arckaringa (P.J.Lang BSOP-422)

Etymology

Olearia named after Johann Gottfried Ölschläger (1603-1671), 17th century German horticulturist and author of a flora of Halle in Germany (his name was latinized to Olearius). Alternatively, it maybe from the Latin 'olearius' pertaining to oil, from 'olea', for olive tree; alluding to the first named species resembling the olive. Arckaringensis named after the location where the species is found, Arckaringa Hills. This name is thought to have been derived from an Aboriginal name, but origin and meaning is not known.

Distribution and status

Endemic to South Australia and found only in the Arckaringa Hills, growing in soft, eroding upper slopes of a dissected breakaway escarpment on powdery orchre-coloured gravel and gypsum crystals. Native. Very rare in south Australia.
Herbarium region: Lake Eyre
NRM region: South Australian Arid Lands
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Small, compact long-lived perennial shrub to 30 cm high with a woody base and white-woolly stems aging to grey. Leaves elliptic top 27 mm long and 16 mm wide, greyish-white to light greenish-grey, coarsely serrated, undulated. Inflorescence solitary at terminal with large, lavender (occasionally white) daisy flower. Flowering between September to November. Fruits are large fluffy white head. Seeds are brown obovoid seed to 2.5 mm long and 0.6 mm wide, covered with scattered short white hairs and long barbed pappus. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between October and December. Collect heads that are large and fluffy. Either pick off the whole heads or use your finger and pull off the seeds from the head. Mature seeds will come off easily. Place the heads in a tray for a week to dry. No cleaning is required if only pure seeds are collected. If heads are collected, then rub the heads gently with your hands to dislodge the seeds. Viable seeds will be fat and hard. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From two collections, the seed viability was high, ranging from 91% to 100%. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
3,500 (1.15 g)
3,100 (1 g)
100+7-Oct-2010DJD1886
Lake Eyre
1-Jan-2012100%+5°C, -18°C
BGA560 (0.191 g)20+24-Sep-2016DJD1886
Lake Eyre
1-Nov-201791%-18°C
BGA5,300 (2.03 g)78-Apr-2020TST1444
Lake Eyre
24-Jun-202095%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.
Germination table:
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