Maireana enchylaenoides | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Amaranthaceae |
Genus: | Maireana |
Species: | M. enchylaenoides |
Binomial name | |
Maireana enchylaenoides | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Maireana enchylaenoides, commonly known as wingless bluebush or wingless fissure-weed, [2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Chenopodiaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a perennial herb with scattered, slightly fleshy, narrowly oblong leaves, bisexual flowers arranged singly, and a fruiting perianth with a thin-walled tube with 5 leathery wings.
Maireana enchylaenoides is a low-lying or weakly erect perennial plant that grows to a height of up to 30 cm (12 in). Its branches are about 30 cm (12 in) long and covered with soft hairs. Its leaves are linear to narrowly egg-shaped, 5–20 mm (0.20–0.79 in) long, and covered with soft or silky hairs. The flowers are bisexual and arranged singly in leaf axils. The fruiting perianth is thin-walled, about 3 mm (0.12 in) in diameter, with 5 leathery wings about 4 mm (0.16 in) in diameter. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
This species was first described in 1876 by Ferdinand von Mueller who gave it the name Chenolea enchylaenoides in his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae , but the name was illegitimate [7] [8] In 1882, von Mueller changed the name to Bassia enchylaenoides in his Systematic Census of Australian Plants , [9] and in 1975, Paul G. Wilson transferred the species to Maireana as M. enchylaenoides in the journal Nuytsia . [3] [10] The specific epithet (enchylaenoides) means ' Encelia -like'. [11]
Maireana enchylaenoides usually grows in woodland in loamy soils and is found in southern Queensland, [2] on the slopes and plains of New South Wales, [4] north-western Victoria, [5] the south of South Australia, [6] the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Mallee bioregions of south-western Western Australia. [12] [2]