Maireana brevifolia

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Maireana brevifolia
Maireana brevifolia.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. brevifolia
Binomial name
Maireana brevifolia
Synonyms [1]

Maireana brevifolia, commonly known as small-leaf bluebush, eastern cotton bush or short-leaf bluebush [2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to Australia, and naturalised in other countries. It is a bushy, erect or rounded shrub or short-lived perennial plant with scattered, fleshy egg-shaped to spindle-shaped leaves, bisexual flowers arranged singly, and a thick and fleshy fruiting perianth with fan-shaped wings.

Contents

Description

Maireana brevifolia is a bushy, erect or rounded shrub or short-lived perennial plant that grows to a height of 0.2–1 m (7.9 in – 3 ft 3.4 in) and has thin branches, sparsely covered with woolly hairs. Its leaves are egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base to slender spindle-shaped, 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) long, fleshy and glabrous. The flowers are bisexual and arranged singly and mostly glabrous. The fruiting perianth is glabrous, thin-walled and hemispherical, about 2 mm (0.079 in) in diameter with a faintly ten-ribbed tube and five papery, fan-shaped wings up to 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) long. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Taxonomy

This species was first described in 1810 by Robert Brown who gave it the name Kochia brevifolia in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae . [7] [8] In 1975, Paul G. Wilson transferred the species to Maireana as M. brevifolia in the journal Nuytsia . [3] [9] The specific epithet (brevifolia) means 'short-leaved'. [10]

Distribution and habitat

Maireana brevifolia grows in heavy, winter-wet and sometimes saline soils in the south-west of Western Australia, [11] the banks of the upper Finke River in the south of the Northern Territory, [6] the south-east of South Australia, [12] Queensland, [2] inland New South Wales [4] and Victoria. [5] It is one of the first species to appear in disturbed saline habitats. [2] [11]

Cotton bush is also naturalised in South Africa, the Middle East and the Canary Islands. [13]

References

  1. 1 2 "Maireana brevifolia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Wilson, Paul G. "Maireana brevifolia". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  3. 1 2 Wilson, Paul G. (1975). "A Taxonomic Revision of the genus Maireana (Chenopodiaceae)". Nuytsia. 2 (1): 22–23. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  4. 1 2 Jacobs, Surrey W.L. "Maireana brevifolia". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  5. 1 2 Walsh, Neville G.; Stajsic, Val. "Maireana brevifolia". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Marieana brevifolia". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  7. ↑ "Kochia brevifolia". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  8. ↑ Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen. London: Typis R. Taylor et socii. p. 409. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  9. ↑ "Maireana brevifolia". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  10. ↑ George, Alex; Sharr, Francis (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 150. ISBN   9780958034180.
  11. 1 2 "Maireana brevifolia". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  12. ↑ "Maireana brevifolia". Seeds of South Australia. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  13. ↑ "Maireana brevifolia". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
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