Plant of the Week OOOzzzooottthhhaaammmnnnuuusss dddiiiooosssmmmiiifffooollliiiuuusss WWWhhhiiittteee DDDooogggwwwooooooddd We tend to know the names of native shrubs that have brightly coloured flowers, red, orange, yellow, pink, mauve or blue, but we often overlook those with white flowers. Ozothamnus diosmifolius, which is known in some places as White Dogwood, in others as Rice Flower, Pill Flower or Sago Bush, is a good example. It is one of the most commonly occurring shrubs in Sydney bushland and is widespread along the coast, ranges and inland areas of NSW and Queensland1. You might be surprised to discover that O. diosmifolius is a daisy belonging to the family Asteraceae, or Compositae as it was known in the olden days. Until recently it has been included in the genus Helichrysum which includes the “Everlastings” and “Paper Daisies”. If you look closely at what appears to be one tiny flower, you can prise it open to reveal that it is in fact composed of numerous tiny flowers (florets) combined into one “head”. On campus, you can find O. diosmifolius in remnant bushland adjacent to the railway station, on the western side of the lake, and in natural bushland on the northern side of the M2 Motorway. There is also a variety which is very popular with home gardeners who specialize in growing Australian native plants. This variety is the most extraordinary shade of pink, so pink, in fact, that it looks as if it might have been artificially coloured. 1Plantnet: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Ozothamnus~diosmifolius Map modified from Australia’s Virtual Herbarium: http://www.chah.gov.au/avh/avhServlet Text and photographs: Alison Downing & Kevin Downing, 14.11.2011 Downing Herbarium, Department of Biological Sciences .