Bertya mollissima

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Bertya mollissima
Bertya mollissima.jpg
In Mount Kaputar National Park
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Bertya
Species:
B. mollissima
Binomial name
Bertya mollissima
Bertya mollissima DistMap14.png
Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium

Bertya mollissima is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It is a slender shrub with linear to oblong or strap-like leaves, separate male and female flowers on a short peduncle, and hairy, oval capsules.

Contents

Description

Bertya mollissima is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 1–3 m (3 ft 3 in – 9 ft 10 in) and is covered with woolly hairs, the young growth and flowers with gold-coloured, woolly hairs. The leaves are linear to oblong or strap-like, 5–20 mm (0.20–0.79 in) long and 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) wide with the edges rolled downwards, the upper surface dark green, the lower surface paler, the midrib prominent. Separate male and female flowers are borne on a peduncle 1.0–1.6 mm (0.039–0.063 in) long, although there are often more of one gender than the other. Male flowers have five petal-like, oblong to lance-shaped sepals about 4 mm (0.16 in) long and 3 mm (0.12 in) wide and 35 to 65 stamens 3.0–3.7 mm (0.12–0.15 in) long. Female flowers are sessile, with densely hairy, narrowly egg-shaped to egg-shaped sepals 2.0–2.7 mm (0.079–0.106 in) long, and a densely hairy ovary with a two- or three-branched style. Flowering mostly occurs from September to December, and the fruit is narrowly elliptic or narrowly oval, 5.5–7.6 mm (0.22–0.30 in) long with a single seed. [3] [4] [5]

Taxonomy

Bertya mollissima was first formally described in 1941 by William Faris Blakely in Contributions from the New South Wales National Herbarium from specimens collected in the Warrumbungles in 1899. [4] [6] The specific epithet (mollissima) means 'very soft'. [7]

Distribution and habitat

This species of Bertya grows on rocky slopes and montain tops in open heath or open eucalypt woodland, in Mount Kaputar, the Warrumbungle Ranges, the Liverpool Range and in the Scone and Singleton districts. [3] [5]

Conservation status

Bertya mollissima is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 [1] and the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 . [5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Conservation Advice for Bertya mollissima" (PDF). Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, Water and the Environment. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  2. ↑ "Bertya mollissimai". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  3. 1 2 Halford, David A. Moon, Christina D.; Orchard, Tony (eds.). "Bertya mollissima". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  4. 1 2 Blakely, William F. (1936). "Additions to the Australian Flora". Contributions from the New South Wales National Herbarium. 1: 120–121. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 James, Teresa A.; Harden, Gwen J. "Bertya mollissima". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  6. ↑ "Bertya mollissima". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  7. ↑ George, Alex; Sharr, Francis (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 254. ISBN   9780958034180.
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