Maireana carnosa

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Maireana carnosa
Maireana carnosa - Flickr - Kevin Thiele.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. carnosa
Binomial name
Maireana carnosa
Synonyms [2]
List
    • Bassia carnosa(Moq.) F.Muell.
    • Bassia lanuginosa C.T.White
    • Chenolea carnosa Benth.
    • Echinopsilon carnosusMoq.
    • Kochia carnosa(Moq.) R.H.Anderson
    • Trichinium carnosumMoq. ex Benth.
Habit near Mullewa Maireana carnosa.jpg
Habit near Mullewa

Maireana carnosa, commonly known as cottony bluebush, [3] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to continental Australia. It is an erect to spreading or prostrate perennial herb or subshrub with a woody base, fleshy narrowly to broadly oblong leaves, bisexual flowers arranged singly, and a crust-like, hemispherical fruiting perianth with a thin, horizontal wing.

Contents

Description

Maireana carnosa is an erect to spreading or prostrate perennial herb or subshrub that typically grows to a height of 30 cm (12 in) and has a woody base. Its leaves are narrowly to broadly oblong or broadly elliptic to lance-shaped, 4–12 mm (0.16–0.47 in) long, 1.5–3.5 mm (0.059–0.138 in) wide and usually covered with silky to woolly hairs. The flowers are bisexual and usually arranged singly in leafy spikes covered with woolly tufts. The fruiting perianth is sessile, 8 mm (0.31 in) covered with wool, the tube crust-like, hemispherical and 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) in diameter with a circular wing about 0.5 mm (0.020 in) wide with a radial slit. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1849 by Alfred Moquin-Tandon who gave it the name Echinopsilon carnosus in de Candolle's Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis from specimens collected near the Swan River by James Drummond. [8] [9] In 1975, Paul G. Wilson transferred the species to Maireana as M. carnosa. [10] The specific epithet (carnosa) means 'fleshy' or 'pulpy'. [11]

Distribution and habitat

Cottony bluebush is found in south-eastern Queensland, [4] northern South Australia, [7] the Northern Territory [6] and most of Western Australia, apart from the south-west. [3]

References

  1. ↑ "Maireana carnosa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  2. ↑ "Maireana carnosa". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Maireana carnosa". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  4. 1 2 Wilson, Paul G. "Maireana carnosa". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  5. ↑ Wilson, Paul G. (1975). "A Taxonomic Revision of the genus Maireana (Chenopodiaceae)". Nuytsia. 2 (1): 30. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Maireana carnosa". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Maireana carnosa". Seeds of South Australia. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  8. ↑ "Echinopsilon carnosus". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  9. ↑ Moquin-Tandon, Alfred (1849). Candolle, Augustin P. (ed.). Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis. Paris: Sumptibus Sociorum Treuttel et Würtz. p. 136. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  10. ↑ "Maireana carnosa". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  11. ↑ George, Alex; Sharr, Francis (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 159. ISBN   9780958034180.
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