Maireana decalvans

Maireana decalvans
Near Iredale
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Amaranthaceae
Genus:	Maireana
Species:	M. decalvans
Binomial name
Maireana decalvans (Gand.) Paul G.Wilson [1]
Synonyms [1]
Enchylaena decalvansGand. Kochia tomentosa var. tenuifolia(F.Muell. ex Benth.) J.M.Black Kochia villosa var. tenuifoliaF.Muell. ex Benth.

Habit near Gilgandra

Maireana decalvans, commonly known as black cottonbush, ^[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Chenopodiaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a erect to spreading perennial plant with fleshy, terete to narrowly spindle-shaped leaves, glabrous, bisexual flowers arranged singly, and a hairy fruiting perianth with a hemispherical tube and a thin-walled wing.

Description

Maireana decalvans is an erect to spreading, bushy perennial that typically grows to a height of up to 50 cm (20 in) and thin branches. Its leaves are arranged alternately, circular in cross section to narrowly spindle-shaped, 5–8 mm (0.20–0.31 in) long, glabrous and fleshy. The flowers are bisexual, glabrous and arranged singly in leaf axils, the fruiting perianth with a thin-walled tube about 3 mm (0.12 in) in diameter and a thin wing about 8 mm (0.31 in) in diameter with a single radial slit. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1919 by Michel Gandoger who gave it the name Enchylaena decalvans in the Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France from specimens collected in the Wimmera district. ^{[7] [8]} In 1975, Paul G. Wilson transferred the species to Maireana as M. decalvans in the journal Nuytsia . ^{[3] [9]} The specific epithet (decalvans) means 'becoming bald', referring to the stems. ^[10]

Distribution and habitat

Black cottonbush grows in heavy, seasonally wet, waterlogged soil and is sometimes a coloniser of cleared land. In is found in western New South Wales, ^[4] mainly along the Murray River floodplain, the mid-west and Melbourne-Bacchus Marsh areas of Victoria, ^[5] the south-east of South Australia ^[6] and south-eastern Queensland. ^[2] It has also been naturalised in the Cape Provinces of South Africa. ^[11]

Conservation status

Maireana decalvans is listed as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992 , ^[12] but as "endangered" in South Australia. ^[13]

References

1. "Maireana decalvans". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
2. Wilson, Paul G. "Maireana decalvans". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
3. Wilson, Paul G. (1975). "A Taxonomic Revision of the genus Maireana (Chenopodiaceae)". Nuytsia. 2 (1): 46. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
4. Jacobs, Surrey W.L. "Maireana decalvens". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
5. "Maireana decalvans". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
6. "Maireana decalvans". Seeds of South Australia. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
7. "Enchylaena decalvans". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
8. Gandoger, Michael (1919). "Sertum Plantarum Novarum. Pars secunda". Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France. 66: 224. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
9. "Maireana decalvans". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
10. George, Alex; Sharr, Francis (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 179. ISBN   9780958034180.
11. "Maireana decalvans (Gand.) Paul G.Wilson". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 27 August 2022.
12. "Taxon Record 10017 - Maireana decalvans". Queensland Government WildNet. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
13. "Maireana decalvans" (PDF). Government of South Australia, Department for Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 14 June 2025.