Chenopodium curvispicatum

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Chenopodium curvispicatum
Chenopodium curvispicatum.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Chenopodium
Species:
C. curvispicatum
Binomial name
Chenopodium curvispicatum

Chenopodium curvispicatum is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae, endemic to Australia. [2]

Contents

It is a small Australian native shrub species of Chenopodium genus, which occurs in semi-arid and arid areas of Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. [2] It is often referred to as cottony saltbush. [3]

Etymology and naming

The word curvispicatum is in reference to the shape of the panicles, which appear as drooping spikes. [4] Common names include cottony saltbush, and cottony goosefoot. [4] The species is often erroneously referred to in literature as Cheopodium gaudichaudianum, and also in hiberia as C. desertorum and Rghagodia spinescenus.

Collections data for Chenopodium curvispicatum from the Atlas of Living Australia Collections data for Chenopodium curvispicatum.png
Collections data for Chenopodium curvispicatum from the Atlas of Living Australia

Description

Chenopodium curvispicatum grows to 1m high in the form of a straggly shrub, and features slender drooping branches with dense vesicular hairs. [4] The leaves are opposite or sub-opposite, with deltoid shaping profiles and are 1 to 1.5 cm long and wide, and are covered with white rounded hairs which appear as a silverly layer. [4] The flowers are either male or bisexual with pyramidal panicles 2–5 cm long. [4] The female flowers are found below the male, and the fruit is enveloping until mature when it opens to 5mm diameter and becoming red. The fruit is a berry which contains sap, and changes from red to orange as it dries. [4]

Taxonomy

Chenopodium curvispicatum is a member of the Caryophyllales order, within the Chenopodiaceae family. [3]

Ecology

Chenopodium curvispicatum is found in well drained calcareous limestone soils within semi-arid and sand plain woodlands. [5] Many of these areas have become degraded due to overgrazing, as well as being impacted by feral species including goats and rabbits. [6] Chenopodium family plants form key understorey components of plant communities. In these arid environments, understorey shrubs provide valuable habitat and resources for many species of herbs and grasses. [7]

A typical plant community type featuring  common associations with Chenopodium curvispicatum is the Casuarina pauper/Alectryon oleifolius woodland and Eucalyptus shrublands in semi-arid areas within Nanya Station in western New South Wales. [8] These ecological communities form unique examples of intact vegetation communities rarely found in New South Wales. [8]

Reproduction/dispersal

The seeds are rounded at 1.5mm diameter, with a honeycomb matrix and are black in colour. The seeds disperse from fruiting flowers between March and September. [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Atriplex</i> Genus of flowering plant

Atriplex is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache. It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae s.l.. The genus is quite variable and widely distributed. It includes many desert and seashore plants and halophytes, as well as plants of moist environments. The generic name originated in Latin and was applied by Pliny the Elder to the edible oraches. The name saltbush derives from the fact that the plants retain salt in their leaves; they are able to grow in areas affected by soil salination.

<i>Atriplex semibaccata</i> Species of plant

Atriplex semibaccata, commonly known as Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, or creeping saltbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a perennial herb native to Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales, but has been introduced into other states and to overseas countries. It flowers and fruits in spring, and propagates from seed when the fruit splits open. This species of saltbush is adapted to inconsistent rainfall, temperature and humidity extremes and to poor soil. It is used for rehabilitation, medicine, as a cover crop and for fodder. Its introduction to other countries has had an environmental and economic impact on them.

<i>Atriplex cinerea</i> Species of plant

Atriplex cinerea, commonly known as grey saltbush, coast saltbush, barilla or truganini, is a plant species in the family Amaranthaceae. It occurs in sheltered coastal areas and around salt lakes in the Australian states of Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales. The species is also known to be present in the Waimea inlet in New Zealand, although has historically been found in Boulder Bank, D'Urville Island, and Palliser Bay.

<i>Chenopodium candolleanum</i> Species of plant

Chenopodium candolleanum, commonly known as seaberry saltbush, is a shrub in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae, native to Australia.

<i>Atriplex vesicaria</i> Species of plant

Atriplex vesicaria, commonly known as bladder saltbush, is a species of flowering plant of the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to arid and semi-arid inland regions of Australia. It is an upright or sprawling shrub with scaly leaves and separate male and female plants, the fruit often with a bladder-like appendage.

<i>Chenopodium baccatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Chenopodium baccatum, commonly known as berry saltbush, is a species of shrub endemic to Western Australia.

Chenopodium benthamii is a species of shrub endemic to midwest Western Australia.

<i>Enchylaena tomentosa</i> Species of plant

Enchylaena tomentosa, commonly known as barrier saltbush or ruby saltbush, is a small native shrub of Australia.

<i>Atriplex nummularia</i> Species of plant

Atriplex nummularia is a species of saltbush from the family Amaranthaceae and is a large woody shrub known commonly as oldman saltbush. A. nummularia is native to Australia and occurs in each of the mainland states, thriving in arid and semi-arid inland regions.

<i>Capparis anomala</i> Genus of flowering plants

Capparis anomala is a species of flowering plant, commonly called warrior bush or broom bush, which is native to Australia.

<i>Cassinia arcuata</i> Species of plant

Cassinia arcuata, commonly known as drooping cassinia, biddy bush, Chinese scrub, sifton bush and Chinese shrub, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a shrub, sometimes a small tree with sessile, linear leaves, and heads of up to two hundred brownish flowers arranged in pyramid-shaped panicles. In New South Wales, the species is known as Cassinia sifton. In disturbed areas, C. arcuata can become weedy.

<i>Dodonaea microzyga</i> Species of flowering shrub

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.

<i>Chenopodium parabolicum</i> Species of plant

Chenopodium parabolicum, commonly known as fragrant saltbush or mealy saltbush, is a shrub in the family Amaranthaceae. The species is native to Australia.

<i>Chenopodium spinescens</i> Species of plant

Chenopodium spinescens is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to all mainland states and territories of Australia where it is known as Rhagodia spinescens.

<i>Dissocarpus paradoxus</i> Species of flowering plant

Dissocarpus paradoxus is a shrub species of inland Australia, also known by the common names of cannonball burr or curious saltbush.

<i>Atriplex holocarpa</i> Species of flowering plant

Atriplex holocarpa is a low-growing species of Atriplex (saltbush) found throughout arid regions of Australia. A. holocarpa is commonly known as pop saltbush, because its carpels pop when stepped upon.

<i>Atriplex stipitata</i> Species of plant

Atriplex stipitata, commonly known as mallee saltbush, bitter saltbush and kidney saltbush, is a species of shrub in the family Amaranthaceae, found in all mainland states of Australia.

<i>Atriplex sturtii</i> Australian shrub

Atriplex sturtii, commonly known as saltbush, is an endangered species within the widespread genus Atriplex.A. sturtii is a native Australian shrub and grows in the Channel Country bioregion, also referred to as 'Corner Country'.

<i>Atriplex angulata</i> Species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae

Atriplex angulata, commonly known as fan saltbush or angular saltbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae. It is an annual to short-lived perennial subshrub, native to Australia, distributed throughout drier parts of the mainland.

<i>Maireana erioclada</i> Species of Australian plant

Maireana erioclada, commonly known as the rosy bluebush, is a common shrub endemic to Australia, belonging to the genus Maireana.

References

  1. "Chenopdium curvispicatum". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government, Canberra. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Chenopodium curvispicatum Paul G.Wilson". PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online. Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
  3. 1 2 Australia, Atlas of Living. "Species: Chenopodium curvispicatum (Cottony Saltbush)". bie.ala.org.au. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Western Australian Herbarium (1983). Nuytsia: journal of the Western Australian Herbarium. Vol. v.4:no.2 (1983). Perth, W.A: Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  5. BUREAU OF FLORA AND FAUNA (1984). Flora of Australia - Volume 4 Phytolaccaceae to Chenopodiaceae (PDF). Australian Government Publishing Service.
  6. "Semi-arid Sand Plain Woodlands | NSW Environment, Energy and Science". www.environment.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  7. The State of Victoria Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (2021). "Victorian semi-arid woodlands" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. 1 2 Westbrooke, Martin E. (2007). "NANYA STATION, WESTERN NEW SOUTH WALES VEGETATION, FLORA AND FAUNA" (PDF). University of Ballarat.
  9. "VicFlora: Chenopodium curvispicatum". vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 24 October 2023.