Diocirea microphylla

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Diocirea microphylla
Diocirea microphylla (15435234192).jpg
Status DECF P3.svg
Priority Three — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Genus: Diocirea
Species:
D. microphylla
Binomial name
Diocirea microphylla

Diocirea microphylla is a plant in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae), and is endemic to a small area near Coolgardie in Western Australia. It is a low shrub with thin branches and minute leaves pressed against the stems. It is readily distinguished from the other three species in the genus by its tiny leaves.

Contents

Description

Diocirea microphylla is a shrub with many stems and which sometimes grows to a height of 0.8 metres (3 ft) and spreads to a width of 1.6 metres (5 ft). Its branches are less than about 1 millimetre (0.04 in) in diameter and unlike others in the genus, lack raised glands. The leaves are mostly 1.5–2 millimetres (0.06–0.08 in) long, about 1 millimetre (0.04 in) wide, egg-shaped, pressed against the stem and sticky due to the presence of resin. [2]

The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils and lack a stalk. There are 5 egg-shaped, pointed green sepals joined together at their base. The petals are white or pale violet joined to form a tube 1.5–2.5 millimetres (0.06–0.1 in) long with lobes which are about the same length and are spotted purple near their bases. The tube is mostly glabrous except for a few hairs on the bottom lobe. There are 4 stamens which extend slightly beyond the petal tube. The fruit that follows flowering is cone-shaped, dark brown, wrinkled and glabrous and about 2 by 1.5 millimetres (0.08 in × 0.06 in). [2]

Taxonomy and naming

Diocirea microphylla was first formally described by taxonomist Bob Chinnock in Eremophila and allied genera: a monograph of the plant family Myoporaceae in 2007 from a specimen collected near Coolgardie. [3] [2] Chinnock states that the specific epithet is derived from "Greek microphylla, small leaves". [2] In ancient Greek, the feminine adjective mikrophyllos (μικρόφυλλος) means "with small leaves", [4] the same meaning that is ascribed to the feminine adjective microphylla in botanical Latin. [5]

Distribution and habitat

Diocirea microphylla occurs in a small area north of Coolgardie in the Coolgardie biogeographic region where it grows in woodland on clay loam. Only a few populations are known but in several of these it forms an almost continuous ground cover with thousands of individual plants. [2] [6] [7]

Conservation

Diocirea microphylla has been classified as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife [6] meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat. [8]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Eremophila decipiens</i> Species of plant

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Diocirea is a genus of flowering plants in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. The genus is endemic to a small area in the south-west of Western Australia and is intermediate in character between Eremophila and Myoporum. There are four members of the genus, all of which are small shrubs with stems and leaves which produce a resin making the plants appear bluish-green. Neither the genus, nor any of the species had been described before 2007 although a few specimens had been collected as Eremophila elachantha. Despite their limited distribution, they often occur in populations of several thousand individual plants, forming a dense ground cover.

<i>Myoporum velutinum</i>

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Diocirea acutifolia is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to a small area near Norseman in Western Australia. The branches and leaves produce sticky resin which sometimes covers the whole plant making it appear bluish grey. This species is distinguished from the three others in the genus by its leaves which are longer than 6 millimetres (0.2 in) and the prominent resin glands on its stems.

Diocirea ternata is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to a small area near Balladonia in Western Australia. It is a low shrub with a restricted distribution but which often occurs in large numbers, forming a dense ground cover. It is readily distinguished from the other three species in the genus by its unusual leaf arrangement.

Diocirea violacea is a plant in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae), and is endemic to a small area near Salmon Gums in Western Australia. It is a low shrub with a restricted distribution but which often occurs in large numbers, forming a dense ground cover. It can be distinguished from the three others in its genus by a combination of the size and arrangement of its leaves and the appearance of its fruits.

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<i>Eremophila flaccida</i> Species of flowering plant

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Eremophila pallida is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a small, spreading shrub with hairy stems, leaves with a few serrations and reddish purple to violet flowers.

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<i>Eremophila platythamnos</i> Species of plant

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Eremophila praecox is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a small, broom-like shrub with small leaves and purple and white flowers.

<i>Eremophila serpens</i> Species of flowering plant

Eremophila serpens, commonly known as snake eremophila, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a prostrate, creeping shrub with long, horizontal branches, leaves which often have irregular serrations, and yellowish-green petals with red or brownish-purple markings.

Eremophila succinea is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect, broom-shaped shrub with sticky, narrow, hooked leaves, narrow, sticky sepals and hairy, pale purple or mauve petals.

Eremophila verticillata, commonly known as whorled eremophila, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a low, spreading or rounded shrub with a strong odour, small leaves pressed against the stem and purple flowers. It is a rare plant, partly due to land clearing.

References

  1. ↑ "Diocirea microphylla". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Chinnock, R.J. (Bob) (2007). Eremophila and allied genera : a monograph of the plant family Myoporaceae (1st ed.). Dural, NSW: Rosenberg. pp. 174–176. ISBN   9781877058165.
  3. ↑ "Diocerea microphylla". APNI. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  4. ↑ Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). A Greek-English Lexicon. Revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie.Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  5. ↑ Backer, C.A. (1936). Verklarend woordenboek der wetenschappelijke namen van de in Nederland en Nederlandsch-Indië in het wild groeiende en in tuinen en parken gekweekte varens en hoogere planten (Edition Nicoline van der Sijs).
  6. 1 2 "Diocirea microphylla Chinnock". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  7. ↑ Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 332. ISBN   0646402439.
  8. ↑ "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
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