Ozothamnus
Low spreading to erect shrubs and small trees; young stems and inflorescences viscid or not, glabrous to tomentose. Leaves mostly alternate, sessile or petiolate, sometimes decurrent, entire, margins plane to strongly revolute. Inflorescences corymbose or pyramidal, or compact clusters of few-many capitula. Capitula cylindric, turbinate or campanulate; involucral bracts in several series, linear, boat-shaped or spathulate, lamina of at least the inner bracts usually deltoid, semicircular, elliptic or trullate, margins entire to laciniate; receptacle bracts mostly absent; outermost florets female or all bisexual; female florets (if present) filiform and without anthers or tubular with anthers sterile; bisexual florets tubular, 5-lobed, anthers tailed at base; style branches truncate, papillose. Cypselas glandular-papillose; pappus persistent, deciduous or absent, bristles reduced in some.
About 45 species (probably congeneric with Cassinia), predominantly Australian; a single species in New Caledonia and 1 polymorphic species in New Zealand.
Hybrids are common in Victoria between sympatric species of this genus, and also sometimes species of Cassinia (e.g. Ozothamnus argophyllus × O. ferrugineus, O. argophyllus × O. turbinatus, O. ferrugineus × O. rosmarinifolius, O. ferrugineus × O. turbinatus, O. obcordatus × Cassinia aculeata, O. stirlingii × O. thyrsoideus, O. rosmarinifolius × O. ferrugineus, and O. rosmarinifolius × O. turbinatus).
The provenance of a sole specimen of Ozothamnus tuckeri (F. Muell. ex J.H. Willis) Anderb. (Helichrysum tuckeri F. Muell. ex J.H. Willis), labelled 'Wimmera, 1894', is unreliable and the species is not recognized here as part of the Victorian flora.
Puttock, C.F. (1999). Ozothamnus. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 4, Cornaceae to Asteraceae, pp. 732–742. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
