The wind blows hardest here. The air is thin. Macrolearia oporina persists. It is a tree daisy of the high country. It grows in the rocky soils of the South Island mountains. It is adapted to cold. To wind. To the subalpine zone. It is tough. It is persistent. It is beautiful. The leaves are large and leathery. They have white undersides. The flowers are white and daisy-like. They appear in summer. The plant is a shrub. Sometimes a small tree. It reaches three metres in sheltered sites. In exposed sites, it grows low. Macrolearia oporina was once known as Olearia oporina. In 2022, the genus Macrolearia was created. It houses the largest-leaved tree daisies. The reclassification recognised that these plants are a distinct lineage. The species name oporina means "autumnal". It may refer to the flowering time. It may refer to something else. The original description is vague. In the mountains, Macrolearia oporina grows among tussock and scrub. It is not common. It is not rare. It is just there. In the places where the wind blows hardest. Climate change may affect the high country. The tree daisy may have to move higher. There is only so high it can go. To find oporina tree daisy is to walk the rocky slopes of the South Island. Look for the large, leathery leaves. Look for the white daisy flowers. It is a plant of the exposed places. A survivor of the cold. Populations are localised but stable. It is not threatened. Climate change is a long-term threat. Warming temperatures could alter subalpine habitats. The plant adapts where it can.