Atkinsonia

Last updated

Atkinsonia
Atkinsonia ligustrina Brian G (Flickr).jpg
A. ligustrina: fruit & flowers
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Santalales
Family: Loranthaceae
Genus: Atkinsonia
F.Muell.
Species:
A. ligustrina
Binomial name
Atkinsonia ligustrina
(Lindl.) F.Muell.
Synonyms
  • Nuytsia ligustrina
  • Gaiadendron ligustrina
  • Loranthus atkinsonae

Atkinsonia is a hemi-parasitic shrub with oppositely set, entire leaves and yellowish, later rusty-red colored flowers, that is found in Eastern Australia. It is a monotypic genus, the only species being Atkinsonia ligustrina, and is assigned to the showy mistletoe family, Loranthaceae. [1] It is sometimes called Louisa's mistletoe. [2] [3]

Contents

Description

Atkinsonia ligustrina is a stout upright evergreen shrub of 1–2 m high, that parasitises on the roots of other woody plants, but photosynthesises for itself. [3] [4] It has twenty-four chromosomes (2n=24). [5] [6]

Roots

The primary roots are long-lived, fleshy, bear many scars, and turn blue when damaged. Secondary roots bearing the taproots (or haustoria) are short-lived and devoid of root hairs. [7] [3]

Stems and branches

There are numerous red–brown branches that split into smooth branchlets that break easily. [4]

Leaves

The leaves are oppositely set along the branches, but sometimes apparently randomly positioned if some leaves have fallen, are slightly fleshy, spread out, initially bright green and later somewhat more dull green 2–5 cm long, ½–1 cm wide, the downward facing surface felty, an entire margin that has an identical curve from the tapering foot, that ends in an approximately 2 mm long leaf stalk, and a blunt tip at the other side. [3]

Flowers

The up to eight sweetly scented flowers in each inflorescence are set in racemes in the axils of the leaves, and are almost the same length as the leaves themselves, and appear in November. Each flower has a short stalk, and is subtended by a pair of bracteoles close to the flower, and a third bract further down. The mostly six (sometimes up to eight) petals are spreading narrow strips of approximately 7 mm long, yellow in color, later becoming more rusty red. The anthers are short, pale yellow, and are merged to the petal at the foot. [4] [8]

Fruits

The drupe-like oval to egg-shaped fruit of about 1½ cm long, is initially green, but develops a red skin when ripe in about March. It hides a thin sticky layer around the seed. The fruits are eaten or shed before the following season's flowerbuds occur. [5] [4] [8]

Taxonomy

Allan Cunningham discovered this species in 1817 and called it Nuytsia ligustrina. This name was published by Lindley in 1839, but not accompanied by the required description. Ferdinand von Mueller described the plant in 1861, thus finally providing the plant with a name. When he was able to see the fruits, he decided the species should be in a new genus, Atkinsonia, and he made the new combination Atkinsonia ligustrina in 1865. Later, in 1883, G. Bentham and J.D. Hooker assigned A. ligustrina to Loranthus , but since Loranthus ligustrina (now Helixanthera ligustrina ) had already been used by Nathaniel Wallich in 1824 for another species from India, a new combination, Loranthus atkinsonae, was created. Adolf Engler first included this species in Gaiadendron in 1894, to subsequently distinguish the subgenera Atkinsonia and Eugaiadendron in 1897 based on the morphology of the inflorescences, and eventually in cooperation with Ernst Hans Ludwig Krause restoring both genera to their original circumscription in 1939. [7] [9]

Etymology

The genus, Atkinsonia, was named for Louisa Atkinson, a plant collector, who found many new plants in the Blue Mountains, including the specimen of A. ligustrina that Cunningham based his description on. [7] The specific epithet, ligustrina, derives from "Ligustrum", a genus in the family Oleaceae, and the Latin, "-ina", a suffix indicating resemblance. Thus the epithet means resembling Ligustrum. [10]

Distribution

Louisa's mistletoe is confined to a small area in the Blue Mountains inland from Sydney, approximately between Linden, Mount Wilson and Mount Victoria, and around Marrangaroo. [3] [7]

Habitat

The species occurs in woodland and heathland growing in exposed sites, and on rocky ridges. [3] [7]

Ecology

A specimen can often be simultaneously parasitic on the roots of many nearby plants. [3] Taproots have been found connecting with the root system of Acacia intertexta, a Caustis species, Dillwynia ericifolia, Eucalyptus piperita, Leptospermum attenuatum, Monotoca scoparia and Platysace linearifolia.[ citation needed ]

A. ligustrina's small, open, perfumed flowers are insect-pollinated, and the drupe-like fruit has a thin sticky layer on the seed. [5] Seedlings can grow substantially without making contact with a host. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loranthaceae</span> Family of mistletoes

Loranthaceae, commonly known as the showy mistletoes, is a family of flowering plants. It consists of about 75 genera and 1,000 species of woody plants, many of them hemiparasites. The three terrestrial species are Nuytsia floribunda, Atkinsonia ligustrina, and Gaiadendron punctatum Loranthaceae are primarily xylem parasites, but their haustoria may sometimes tap the phloem, while Tristerix aphyllus is almost holoparasitic. For a more complete description of the Australian Loranthaceae, see Flora of Australia online., for the Malesian Loranthaceae see Flora of Malesia.

<i>Nuytsia</i> Genus of mistletoes

Nuytsia floribunda is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the austral summer coincides with the Christmas season.

<i>Myoporum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Myoporum is a genus of flowering plants in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. There are 30 species in the genus, eighteen of which are endemic to Australia although others are endemic to Pacific Islands, including New Zealand, and one is endemic to two Indian Ocean islands. They are shrubs or small trees with leaves that are arranged alternately and have white, occasionally pink flowers and a fruit that is a drupe.

<i>Pomaderris</i> Family of shrubs and trees

Pomaderris is a genus of about 80 species of flowering plants in the family Rhamnaceae, the species native to Australia and/or New Zealand. Plants in the genus Pomaderris are usually shrubs, sometimes small trees with simple leaves arranged alternately along the branches and bisexual, woolly-hairy flowers arranged in racemes or panicles. The flowers are usually yellow and often lack petals.

<i>Loranthus</i> Genus of mistletoes

Loranthus is a genus of parasitic plants that grow on the branches of woody trees. It belongs to the family Loranthaceae, the showy mistletoe family. In most earlier systematic treatments it contains all mistletoe species with bisexual flowers, though some species have reversed to unisexual flowers. Other treatments restrict the genus to a few species. The systematic situation of Loranthus is not entirely clear.

<i>Amyema quandang</i> Species of plant

Amyema quandang is a species of hemi-parasitic shrub which is widespread throughout the mainland of Australia, especially arid inland regions, sometimes referred to as the grey mistletoe.

<i>Dendrophthoe vitellina</i> Species of mistletoe

Dendrophthoe vitellina, commonly known as long-flowered- or apostle mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic plant of the mistletoe family Loranthaceae. The genus Dendrophthoe comprises about 31 species spread across tropical Africa, Asia, and Australia. Despite being collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander in 1788, and depicted in Banks' Florilegium, it was not until 1860 that it was described by Ferdinand von Mueller as Loranthus vitellinus after being collected near Ipswich, and renamed by Philippe Édouard Léon Van Tieghem in 1895.

<i>Dendrophthoe glabrescens</i> Species of plant in the family Loranthaceae

Dendrophthoe glabrescens, commonly known as smooth mistletoe or orange mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic plant of the mistletoe family Loranthaceae, found in eastern and northern Australia. It flowers from October to January. The flowers are tubular, with a green base, but where the tube splits open, it displays orange and bright red.

<i>Amyema benthamii</i> Species of epiphyte

Amyema benthamii, commonly known as the twin-leaved mistletoe or Bentham's mistletoe, is a species of flowering plant, an epiphytic hemiparasitic plant of the family Loranthaceae native to Western Australia and the Northern Territory of Australia in semi-arid woodland. This species is named in honour of the English botanist George Bentham who between 1863 and 1878 published Flora Australiensis, the first flora of Australia.

<i>Lysiana exocarpi</i> Species of mistletoe

Lysiana exocarpi, commonly known as harlequin mistletoe, is a species of hemiparasitic shrub, endemic to Australia. It is in the Gondwanan family Loranthaceae and is probably the most derived genus of that family with 12 pairs of chromosomes. The Loranthaceae is the most diverse family in the mistletoe group with over 900 species worldwide and including the best known species in Australia. Mistletoes are notable for their relationships with other species. In an early reference to the group in Australia Allan Cunningham explorer and first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, wrote in 1817: "The Bastard Box is frequently much encumbered with the twining adhering Loranthus aurantiacus which 'Scorning the soil, aloft she springs, Shakes her red plumes and claps her golden wings'."

<i>Amyema mackayensis</i> Species of epiphyte

Amyema mackayensis, the mangrove mistletoe, is a species of flowering plant within the genus Amyema, an epiphytic hemiparasitic plant of the family Loranthaceae native to Australia, and found along its northern and eastern coasts in New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia, and also in New Guinea.

<i>Amyema fitzgeraldii</i> Species of plant

Amyema fitzgeraldii, the pincushion mistletoe, is a species of flowering plant within the genus Amyema, an epiphytic hemiparasitic plant of the family Loranthaceae endemic to Australia, and found in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.

<i>Amyema sanguinea</i> Species of mistletoe

Amyema sanguinea is an aerial hemiparasitic shrub within the genus Amyema, in the family Loranthaceae and native to Australia, where it is found in New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.

<i>Amyema melaleucae</i> Species of plant

Amyema melaleucae, also known as the tea-tree mistletoe, is a species of flowering plant within the genus Amyema, an epiphytic hemiparasitic plant of the family Loranthaceae native to Australia and found in Western Australia and South Australia on the coast, from north of Perth almost to the Victorian border.

<i>Psittacanthus acinarius</i> Species of plant

Psittacanthus acinarius is a species of mistletoe in the family Loranthaceae, which is native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and French Guiana.

<i>Muellerina bidwillii</i> Species of mistletoe

Muellerina bidwillii, common name Cypress-pine mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic aerial shrub in the family Loranthaceae. The species is endemic to New South Wales and Queensland.

<i>Muellerina myrtifolia</i> Species of mistletoe

Muellerina myrtifolia, common name myrtle-leaved mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic aerial shrub in the family Loranthaceae. The species is endemic to New South Wales and Queensland.

<i>Muellerina celastroides</i> Species of mistletoe

Muellerina celastroides, common names Banksia mistletoe and coast mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic aerial shrub in the family Loranthaceae. The species is endemic to New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

<i>Amyema cambagei</i> Species of epiphyte

Amyema cambagei, commonly known as sheoak mistletoe, is a species of flowering plant, an epiphytic hemiparasitic plant of the family Loranthaceae endemic to Australia, and found in New South Wales and Queensland in sclerophyll forest and woodland on several species of Casuarinaceae.

Amyema plicatula is a species of hemi-parasitic shrub found in the Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, New South Wales and Queensland.

References

  1. ↑ B. Wiecek. "New South Wales Flora Online: Atkinsonia ligustrina". Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  2. ↑ "Atkinsonia ligustrina". Charles Sturt University – Virtual Herbarium. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Atkinsonia ligustrina (A.Cunn. ex F.Muell.) F.Muell". plantNet - New South Wales Flora online. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  4. 1 2 3 4 David Coleby (17 February 2016). "The story behind our most mystifying Atkinsonia ligustrina". Bushcare Blue Mountains. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  5. 1 2 3 Bryan Barlow (8 December 2014). "Tree mistletoes in Loranthaceae". Information about Australia’s flora. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  6. ↑ Kuijt, Job; Hansen, Bertel (2014). Flowering Plants. Eudicots: Santalales, Balanophorales. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Vol. 12. Springer.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Menzies, Barbara P.; Mckee, H.S. (1959). "Root parasitism in Atkinsonia ligustrina (A. Cunn. ex F. Muell.) F. Muell". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 84: 118–127. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  8. 1 2 The University of Sydney. "Atkinsonia". eFlora: Vascular Plants of the Sydney Region. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  9. ↑ "Helixanthera ligustrina". Flora Maleisiana. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  10. ↑ Plantillustrations.ord: ligustrinus, -a, -um. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.