Seasonal Wild Flowers

Latin name

Olearia macrodonta

Family

Asteraceae

Flowering season

June to July

English distribution

Inland, it is found mainly around London.

On the coast it is found in parts of the Northeast, the

Northwest, the South and the far Southwest.

It is thinly scattered elsewhere.

For a map see the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland

– New Zealand Holly

Habitat

It is a neophyte which has been grown in the UK since

1880s and has been known in the wild since the 1950s.

It is frequently planted by the coast because it is wind 

and salt tolerant.

It has become naturalised on waste ground, banks, dunes

and sea-cliffs, by roads and in hedges and scrub.

It is spread by seed and from garden throw-outs.

Description

New Zealand Holly is a salt-tolerant, aromatic evergreen

shrub growing up to 6m.

The daisy-like flowerheads are grouped together in flat

clusters.

Individual flowerheads are up to 1cm across with between

3 and 5 tay florets and between 4 and 7 disc florets.

Disc florets open first and are made up of a corolla tube

with 5 red and cream petalous teeth. The 5 stamens are

fused to form a yellow cylindar covering the short white

style.

Ray florets open after the disc florets and are female.

They have a petal like ligule and a long white style with

2 stigmatic branches.

The pappus is made up of hairs. Dispersal is by wind.

The leaves are up to 12cm, toothed and wavy. They are 

dark green above and grey-green below.