Maireana aphylla

Cotton bush
Fruit of Maireana aphylla
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Amaranthaceae
Genus:	Maireana
Species:	M. aphylla
Binomial name
Maireana aphylla (R.Br.) Paul G.Wilson [1]
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms [1]
Kochia aphyllaR.Br. Kochia villosa var. aphylla(R.Br.) C.Moore Salsola aphylla(R.Br.) Spreng. Kochia browniiauct. non F.Muell. 1859

Habit

Details of stems

Maireana aphylla, commonly known as cotton bush or leafless bluebush, ^[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a widely branched, mostly dioecious shrub with small, woolly leaves, flowers arranged singly, and a fruiting perianth with a small tube and horizontal wings.

Description

Maireana aphylla is a widely branched shrub that typically grows to 0.5–2 m (1 ft 8 in – 6 ft 7 in) high and about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) wide. Its branchlets are sometimes covered with woolly hairs and are often spiny. The leaves are arranged alternately, more or less terete, fleshy, 1–8 mm (0.039–0.315 in) long, usually covered with woolly hair, and often fall off as they mature. The flowers are mostly dioecious and arranged singly, sometimes with tiny bracteoles at the base. Male flowers are bell-shaped, about 1.5 mm (0.059 in) high and slightly woolly. Female flowers are more or less spherical, about 1 mm (0.039 in) high with a prominent radiating bulge, a glabrous ovary and two stigmas. The fruiting perianth is straw-coloured, mostly glabrous with a hemispherial to top-shaped tube 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) high with a prominent bulge and a horizontal wing about 8 mm (0.31 in) in diameter. Flowering mostly occurs from December to April, and the fruit is a hemispherical utricle. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown who gave it the name Kochia aphylla in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae . ^{[8] [9]} In 1975, Paul Graham Wilson transferred the species to Maireana as M. aphylla in the journal Nuytsia . ^{[3] [10]} The specific epithet (aphylla) means 'without leaves'. ^[11]

Distribution and habitat

Cotton bush occurs in all mainland states and territories apart from the Australian Capital Territory. It grows in seasonally inundated clay soils west of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales, ^[5] in southern Queensland, ^[2] the southern half of the Northern Territory ^[4] and in the Carnarvon-Wiluna area of Western Australia. ^{[2] [12]}

References

1. "Maireana aphylla". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
2. Wilson, Paul G. "Maireana aphylla". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
3. Wilson, Paul G. (1975). "A Taxonomic Revision of the genus Maireana (Chenopodiaceae)". Nuytsia. 2 (1): 54–55. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
4. "Maireana aphylla". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
5. Jacobs, Surrey Wilfrid Laurance. "Maireana aphylla". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
6. Walsh, Neville G.; Stajsic, Val. "Maireana aphylla". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
7. "Maireana aphylla". Seeds of South Australia. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
8. "Kochia aphylla". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
9. Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. London: Typis R. Taylor et socii. p. 409. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
10. "Maireana aphylla". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
11. George, Alex; Sharr, Francis (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 135. ISBN   9780958034180.
12. "Maireana aphylla". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.