Olearia arida

Olearia arida is an upright shrub with a single woody stem or a spreading habit 0.3–2 m (0.98–6.6 ft) high covered densely with flattened short soft matted hairs. The sessile leaves are long and narrow 7–20 mm (0.28–0.79 in) long and 1–2.5 mm (0.039–0.098 in) wide, broadening to a rounded apex. The upper-side of leaves are smooth and sticky, the under-side a woolly white with an obvious mid-vein with a rolled edge and glands. The cluster of 10-15 white flowers are on a short stem in leaf axils. The flower bracts are arranged in 3 rows, bell-shaped, smooth, pale, sticky, often purplish and broader at the apex and about 5 mm (0.20 in) long. The flower centre is yellow, blooms appear from July to September. The smooth, dry one-seeded needle-shaped fruit are about 2 mm (0.079 in) long with fine longitudinal lines.[2][3]

Olearia arida was described in 1918 by Ernst Pritzel and published in Repertorium Specierum Novarum Regni Vegetabilis.[1] The specific epithet (arida) is derived from the Latin word aridus meaning "dry".[4]

This species grows on sand hills in South Australia and Western Australia.[2]