Maireana atkinsiana

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

Kochia atkinsianaW.Fitzg.

Habit near Paynes Find Maireana atkinsiana habit.jpg
Habit near Paynes Find

Maireana atkinsiana, commonly known as bronze bluebush, [2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a rigid, brittle, dioecious shrub with fleshy, narrowly to broadly egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, pairs of male and female flowers, and a pink to red, thin-walled fruiting perianth.

Contents

Description

Maireana atkinsiana is a rigid, brittle, intricately branched, dioecious shrub that typically grows up to 60 cm (24 in) high, its branchlets covered with woolly hairs. The leaves are fleshy,narrowly to broadly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long and covered with soft hair pressed against the surface. The flowers are arranged in pairs and covered with woolly hairs. The fruiting perianth is pink to red, thin-walled with a ten-ribbed, glabrous tube and fan-shaped wing up to 18 mm (0.71 in) in diameter. [3] [4]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1904 by William Vincent Fitzgerald who gave it the name Kochia atkinsiana in the Journal of the West Australian Natural History Society from specimens he collected in 1903. [5] [6] In 1975, Paul Graham Wilson transferred the species to Maireana as M. atkinsiana in the journal Nuytsia . [4] [7] The specific epithet (atkinsiana) honours William Atkins. [8]

Distribution and habitat

This species of Maireana grows near salt lakes between Shark Bay, Watheroo and Laverton in the Avon Wheatbelt, Carnarvon, Coolgardie, Geraldton Sandplains, Murchison and Yalgoo bioregions Western Australia. [2] [3]

References

  1. 1 2 "Maireana amoena". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Maireana amoena". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. 1 2 Wilson, Paul G. "Maireana atkinsiana". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  4. 1 2 Wilson, Paul G. (1975). "A Taxonomic Revision of the genus Maireana (Chenopodiaceae)". Nuytsia. 2 (1): 21. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  5. ↑ "Kochia atkinsiana". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  6. ↑ Fitzgerald, William V. (1904). "Additions to the West Australian Flora". Journal of the West Australian Natural History Society. 2 (1): 31. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  7. ↑ "Maireana atkinsiana". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  8. ↑ George, Alex; Sharr, Francis (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 139. ISBN   9780958034180.
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