Maireana microcarpa

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Maireana microcarpa
Maireana microcarpa fruit.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. microcarpa
Binomial name
Maireana microcarpa
Synonyms [1]
  • Kochia microcarpa(Benth.) Paul G.Wilson
  • Kochia villosa var. microcarpaBenth.
Habit near Mutawintji in far western N.S.W. Maireana microcarpa habit.jpg
Habit near Mutawintji in far western N.S.W.

Maireana microcarpa, commonly known as swamp bluebush, [2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to south-eastern, continental Australia. It is a weakly upright shrub with slender branches covered with woolly white hairs when young, fleshy, terete leaves, flowers arranged singly and a dark brown or pale, tube-shaped fruiting perianth with a simple wing.

Contents

Description

Maireana microcarpa is a weakly upright shrub that typically grows to a height of up to about 40 cm (16 in) and has slender branches that are loosely covered with woolly white hairs when young. The leaves are fleshy, arranged alternately, subterete to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, mostly 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long and glabrous. The flowers are arranged singly, bisexual and glabrous, the fruiting perianth glabrous with a shortly cup-shaped tube 1.5 mm (0.059 in) high and 2 mm (0.079 in) in diameter, ribbed and crust-like, with a wing 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) in diameter with a radial slit. [2] [3] [4]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1870 by George Bentham who gave it the name Kochia villosa var. microcarpa in his Flora Australiensis . [5] [6] In 1975, Paul Wilson transferred the species to Maireana as M. microcarpa in the journal Nuytsia . [7] The specific epithet (microcarpa) means 'small-fruited'. [8]

Distribution and habitat

Swamp bluebush usually grows on claypans in western New South Wales, [4] northern South Australia, [9] southern Northern Territory [10] and south-western Queensland. [2]

Conservation status

Maireana microcarpa is listed as "near threatened' under the Northern Territory Government Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act [10] but as of "least concern" in Queensland under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 . [11]

References

  1. 1 2 "Maireana microcarpa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Wilson, Paul G. "Maireana microcarpa". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
  3. ↑ Wilson, Paul G. (1975). "A Taxonomic Revision of the genus Maireana (Chenopodiaceae)". Nuytsia. 2 (1): 48. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
  4. 1 2 Jacobs, Surrey Wilfrid Laurance. "Maireana microcarpa". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
  5. ↑ "Kochia villosa var. microcarpa". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
  6. ↑ Bentham, George (1870). Flora Australiensis. London: Lovell Reeves & Co. p. 187. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
  7. ↑ "Maireana marginata". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
  8. ↑ George, Alex S.; Sharr, Francis A. (2023). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings - A Glossary (fifth ed.). Kardinya: Four Gables Press. p. 259. ISBN   9780645629538.
  9. ↑ "Maireana microcarpa". Seeds of South Australia. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
  10. 1 2 "Maireana microcarpa". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
  11. ↑ "Taxon - Maireana microcarpa". Queensland Government WildNet. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
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