| Abutilon otocarpum | |
|---|---|
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| Abutilon otocarpum flower | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malvales |
| Family: | Malvaceae |
| Genus: | Abutilon |
| Species: | A. otocarpum |
| Binomial name | |
| Abutilon otocarpum | |
Abutilon otocarpum, the desert lantern, [1] is a small shrub of the family Malvaceae found in most parts of Australia. [2]
This shrub can grow to 60 cm tall, with flat leaves that alternate up its stem. Leaves of the desert lantern can grow to 1.5 – 6 cm long and are narrow to circular, hairy and toothed. The flowers are yellow, with 5 petals, borne singly on stalks originating at the bases of the leaves, often appearing clustered at the ends of the stems. [3]
The desert lantern differs from dwarf lantern flower ( Abutilon fraseri ) and plains lantern-bush ( Abutilon halophilum ) in that the petals are about the same length as the calyx, and from velvetleaf ( Abutilon theophrasti ) in that the tops of the fruitlets in the fruiting body have very short points. [4]
Abutilon otocarpum grows wild in a range of climates from warm temperate to the tropical zone, and is found particularly in semi-arid areas of the tropics and subtropics. [5] Plants in this genus generally require a position in full sun or part day shade, and a fertile well-drained soil. [6] The desert lantern can be in flower for much of the year.
A fibre was obtained from the stem bark by Aboriginal peoples, including the Kalkatungu, [7] but it is unknown if the plant is still utilized today.[ citation needed ]
Abutilon otocarpum is found in semi-arid districts; on red sandy soils, sand rises and dunes. It occurs on sandplains and low sandy rises, dunefields, fertile alluvial plains, Mulga-dominated red earth plains, intermittent watercourses and run-on areas, and rocky or gravelly ranges, hills or rises composed of neutral or acidic rocks. [8]
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Abutilon otocarpum is a food and water source for the Alyawarr, and a source of firewood and material for toys and spears for the Anmatyerr. Its fruit is a source of food for the Pintupi Luritja and the Pitjantjatjara, and is used in fish-poisons and traps by the Pitjantjatjara and the Warlpiri.[ citation needed ]
Abutilon is a large genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics of the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australia. General common names include Indian mallow and velvetleaf; ornamental varieties may be known as room maple, parlor maple, or flowering maple. The genus name is an 18th-century Neo-Latin word that came from the Arabic ’abū-ṭīlūn, the name given by Avicenna to this or a similar genus.
Abutilon pictum, syn. Abutilon striatum (disputed), is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It is native to southern Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The plant has become naturalised in Central America, and is used in horticulture. Common names include redvein abutilon, red vein Indian mallow, redvein flowering maple, Chinese-lantern and red vein Chinese lanterns.
Ipomoea costata, commonly known as rock morning glory, is an Australian native plant. It is found in northern Australia, from Western Australia, through the Northern Territory, to Queensland. Its tubers provide a form of bush tucker to some Aboriginal peoples, known as bush potato, or, karnti.
Erythrina vespertilio is a tree native to north and north-east Australia. Its common names are grey corkwood, bat's wing coral tree, yulbah and the more ambiguous "bean tree". In the Western Desert language it is known as ininti and the in Arrernte and Anmatyerr it is known as atywerety.
Abutilon palmeri, known as Palmer's abutilon, superstition mallow, and Palmer's Indian mallow is a species of flowering plant native the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.
Gaultheria hispida, commonly known as the copperleaf snowberry, is an endemic eudicot of Tasmania, Australia. It is an erect multi-branched shrub, that can be found in wet forests and alpine woodlands. Its berries appear snowy white and leaves are tipped with a copper tinge, hence the common name.
Rumicastrum balonense, synonym Calandrinia balonensis, is a succulent plant native to arid and semi-arid regions of Australia.
Herissantia crispa is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names bladdermallow and curly abutilon. It is native to the tropical Americas but it can be found throughout the tropical and warmer temperate world as an introduced species and sometimes a weed. This is a perennial or sometimes annual herb growing up to about 1.5 meters in maximum stem length, usually taking a trailing or creeping form. It is coated in whitish hairs. The oval or heart-shaped leaves are up to 7 centimeters long with rippled edges. The inflorescence is a solitary flower emerging from a leaf axil, borne on a long-haired pedicel which is half erect and then jointed downward. The flower has five pale yellow oval petals each up to a centimeter long. The fruit is a lantern-like inflated sphere ribbed into segments. It is up to 2 centimeters wide, coated in long hairs, and dehiscent, each segment containing 2 or 3 black kidney-shaped seeds.
Solanum chippendalei is a small fruiting shrub in the family Solanaceae, native to northern Australia. It is named after its discoverer, George Chippendale. The fruits, known as "bush tomatoes", are edible and are an important indigenous food, and the aborigines who use them broadcast the seed for later harvesting.
Acacia cowleana, Halls Creek wattle, is a northern Australian native shrub. It is a flowering plant with yellow flowers that only open in winter. Its origin is the Northern Australia's dry tropics. It belongs to the genus of Acacia.
Grevillea juncifolia, commonly known as honeysuckle grevillea, honey grevillea, honeysuckle spider flower, and many indigenous names, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to inland Australia. It is a bushy shrub or small tree with erect, linear leaves and clusters of bright yellow to orange flowers.
Dodonaea microzyga, commonly known as brilliant hopbush, is a dioecious spreading shrub in the family Sapindaceae. It grows between 0.3 and 1.5 metres tall.
Abutilon parishii is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names Parish's Indian mallow and Pima Indian mallow. It is native to Arizona in the United States and Sonora in Mexico.
Acacia melleodora, commonly known as scented wax wattle, waxy wattle, honey wattle or honey scented wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae that is endemic to arid parts of central Australia.
Hakea divaricata, commonly known as needlewood, corkbark tree or fork-leaved corkwood, is a tree or shrub in the family Proteaceae native to an area in central Australia. A slow growing species with up to 120 showy cream to greenish-yellow flowers in long racemes from June to November.
Peter Kenneth Latz is an agrostologist, botanist, ethnobotanist, and author from Central Australia. For 55 years he worked with the Eastern and Western Arrernte, Alyawarre, Anmatyerre, Pintupi/Luritja, Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara, and Warlpiri people to organise and share their cultural and scientific knowledge of central Australian plants. In many areas of Australia this knowledge has been lost, but it has been preserved in the Red Centre as a result of this lifelong collaboration. He has published articles and books on Australian plants, particularly on arid grasses and vegetation and Aboriginal plant use.
Xanthorrhoea thorntonii, commonly known as Cundeelee grasstree, Cundeelee blackboy, desert grasstree, yacka or grasstree, is a species of grasstree of the genus Xanthorrhoea native to central Australia. It is known to the Pitjantjatjara people as kata-kultu, kata-puru, ulpa or urara, the Warlpiri people as yurlurnkuru and the Arrernte as lunkere. X. thorntonii is the only grass tree found in Central Australia including the Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria Desert and MacDonnell Ranges.
Calotis cymbacantha, the showy burr daisy, is a species of Calotis native to the arid areas of Australia. It is a perennial herb that grows between 10 and 40 cm tall. It has hairy erect stems which are woody at the base and produces yellow flowers.
Abutilon oxycarpum, known as flannel weed, straggly lantern-bush, and small-leaved abutilon, is a malvaceous plant native to eastern Australia. It is found on hillsides or floodplains on red sand and limestone.
Lysiana subfalcata, common name Northern mistletoe, is a spreading to pendulous hemi-parasitic shrub in the Loranthaceae which occurs in all mainland states of Australia except Victoria.