Maireana microphylla

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Maireana microphylla
Maireana microphylla.jpg
Near Morangarell
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Maireana
Species:
M. microphylla
Binomial name
Maireana microphylla
Synonyms [1]
  • Enchylaena microphyllaMoq.
  • ? Enchylaena tomentosa var. leptophylla Benth.
  • Kochia microphylla(Moq.) F.Muell.
  • ? Kochia tomentosa f. tenuis Domin
  • Kochia tamariscinaauct. non (Lindl.) J.M.Black

Maireana microphylla, commonly known as cotton bush, small-leaf bluebush or eastern cottonbush, [2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a widely-branched shrub with slender branches, more or less terete leaves, flowers arranged singly but forming dense, leafy spikes and a tube-shaped fruiting perianth with a simple wing with a notched edge.

Contents

Description

Maireana microphylla is a weakly upright shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) and has slender branches that are sometimes covered with hairs pressed against the surface. The leaves are arranged alternately, subterete, mostly 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long. The flowers are arranged singly but form densely dense, leafy spikes, the fruiting perianth glabrous with a shallowly hemispherical tube 1.5–2 mm (0.059–0.079 in) high in diameter and sometimes with a wing about 7 mm (0.28 in) in diameter with a radial slit and a notched edge. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1849 by Alfred Moquin-Tandon who gave it the name Enchylaena microphylla in de Candolle's Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis . [6] [7] In 1975, Paul Wilson transferred the species to Maireana as M. microphylla in the journal Nuytsia . [8] The specific epithet (microphylla) means 'small-leaved'. [9]

Distribution and habitat

Cottonbush is a widespread colonising species in heavy loamy or poorer soils in south-eastern Queensland, [2] eastern New South Wales [4] and northern Victoria. [5]

Conservation status

Maireana microphylla is listed as "endangered' in Victoria under the Victorian Government Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act . [5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Maireana microphylla". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Wilson, Paul G. "Maireana microphylla". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  3. ↑ Wilson, Paul G. (1975). "A Taxonomic Revision of the genus Maireana (Chenopodiaceae)". Nuytsia. 2 (1): 47. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  4. 1 2 Jacobs, Surrey Wilfrid Laurance. "Maireana microphylla". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 Walsh, Neville G.; Stajsic, Val. "Maireana microphylla". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  6. ↑ "Enchylaena microphylla". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  7. ↑ Moquin-Tandon, Alfred; de Candolle, Augustin P. (1849). Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis. Paris: Sumptibus Sociorum Treuttel et Würtz. p. 128. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  8. ↑ "Maireana marginata". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
  9. ↑ George, Alex S.; Sharr, Francis A. (2023). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings - A Glossary (fifth ed.). Kardinya: Four Gables Press. p. 260. ISBN   9780645629538.
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