Xanthosia pilosa

Xanthosia pilosa, the woolly xanthosia, is a small, wiry, evergreen subshrub in the Apiaceae endemic to heathland, dry sclerophyll woodland, and sandstone ridges of eastern Australia, principally New South Wales and southeastern Queensland. Plants grow 20 to 60 cm tall with slender, often sprawling, densely hairy stems clothed in long, soft, spreading hairs that give the plant a velvety appearance. The leaves are alternate, deeply three- to five-lobed or pinnatifid, 1 to 3 cm long, with cuneate bases and coarsely toothed segments, also hairy on both surfaces. Small white to pale pink flowers, each about 2 to 3 mm across with five petals, are arranged in compound umbels of 2 to 6 umbellules subtended by leafy bracts; flowering occurs principally from spring to summer. Fruits are small, laterally compressed schizocarps splitting into two mericarps. The species is locally common on sandy, well-drained, nutrient-poor soils.