Maireana appressa

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Grey bluebush
Maireana appressa.jpg
In Boolcoomatta Reserve
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Maireana
Species:
M. appressa
Binomial name
Maireana appressa
Synonyms [1]

Maireana appressa, commonly known as grey bluebush, [2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is an intricately branched, spreading or erect shrub covered with woolly, white hairs with narrowly triangular to narrowly oblong leaves, bisexual flowers arranged singly, and a top-shaped fruiting perianth with horizontal wings.

Contents

Description

Maireana appressa is an intricately branched, spreading or erect shrub or subshrub that typically grows to 10–60 cm (3.9–23.6 in) high and is covered with loose, woolly white hairs. Its branchlets are sometimes covered with woolly hairs and are often spiny. The leaves are arranged alternately, narrowly triangular or narrowly oblong, 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) long, and covered with woolly hair. The flowers are bisexual, glabrous and arranged singly, the fruiting perianth is usually glabrous with a top-shaped tube 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) long with a papery wing about 10 mm (0.39 in) in diameter. The fruit is a lens-shaped utricle with a radial slit. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1870 by George Bentham who gave it the name Kochia appressa in his Flora Australiensis . [8] [9] In 1975, Paul Graham Wilson transferred the species to Maireana as M. appressa in the journal Nuytsia . [4] [10] The specific epithet (appressa) means 'appressed'. [11]

Distribution and habitat

Grey bluebush occurs in all mainland states and territories apart from the Australian Capital Territory. It grows near salt lakes, sometimes on breakaways and is widespread in the west of New South Wales, [6] in Queensland, [3] the southern half of the Northern Territory [5] and in the Avon Wheatbelt, Carnarvon, Central Ranges, Coolgardie, Great Sandy Desert, Murchison and Yalgoo bioregions of Western Australia. [3] [12]

Conservation status

Maireana appressa is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, [12] and as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992 . [13]

References

  1. 1 2 "Maireana appressa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  2. 1 2 Walsh, Neville G.; Stajsic, Val. "Maireana appressa". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 Wilson, Paul G. Wheeler, A.M. (ed.). "Maireana appressa". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  4. 1 2 Wilson, Paul G. (1975). "A Taxonomic Revision of the genus Maireana (Chenopodiaceae)". Nuytsia. 2 (1): 54. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Maireana appressa". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  6. 1 2 Jacobs, Surrey Wilfrid Laurance. "Maireana appressa". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  7. ↑ "Maireana appressa". Seeds of South Australia. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  8. ↑ "Kochia appressa". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  9. ↑ Bentham, George (1870). Flora Australiensis. London: Lovell Reeves & Co. p. 188. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  10. ↑ "Maireana aphylla". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 28 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. 1 2 "Maireana appressa". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  13. ↑ "Species profile—Maireana appressa". Queensland Government Department of Ecucation and Science. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
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