Maireana murrayana

Maireana murrayana
Conservation status
Priority Three — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Amaranthaceae
Genus:	Maireana
Species:	M. murrayana
Binomial name
Maireana murrayana (Ewart & B.Rees) Paul G.Wilson [1]
Synonyms [1]
Kochia murrayanaEwart & B.Rees

Maireana murrayana is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to inland Western Australia. It is shrub with its branchlets and leaves covered with woolly hairs, thick and fleshy, narrowly oblong to wedge-shaped leaves, bisexual, woolly, spherical flowers, and a glabrous fruiting perianth with a thin, horizontal wing.

Description

Maireana murrayana is a shrub with woolly hairs on its branches and leaves, and that typically grows to a height of up to 30 cm (12 in). The leaves are arranged alternately, thick and fleshy, narrowly oblong to wedge-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, about 20 mm (0.79 in) long and 4 mm (0.16 in) wide with a rounded tip and convex on the lower surface. The flowers are bisexual, arranged singly, spherical and densely woolly. The fruiting perianth is large with a broad attachment, about 2 mm (0.079 in) in diameter with a top-shaped tube, 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) high, smooth and glabrous with thick, woody walls. The wing is thin, horizontal and about 20 mm (0.79 in) in diameter, sparsely woolly on top with a single slit. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1909 by Alfred James Ewart and Bertha Rees who gave it the name Kochia murrayana in Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria . ^{[5] [6]} In 1975, Paul Wilson transferred the species to Maireana as M. murrayana in the journal Nuytsia . ^[7] The specific epithet (murrayana) honours John Murray, the premier of Victoria from 1909 to 1912. ^[8]

Distribution and habitat

Maireana murrayana grows on dissected sandstone and is only known from a few collections made between the upper Gascoyne and the Murchison Rivers in the Gascoyne and Murchison bioregions of north-western Western Australia. ^{[2] [4]}

Conservation status

Maireana murrayana is listed as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, ^[4] meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations, but is not under imminent threat. ^[9]

References

1. "Maireana murrayana". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
2. Wilson, Paul G. "Maireana murrayana". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
3. Wilson, Paul G. (1975). "A Taxonomic Revision of the genus Maireana (Chenopodiaceae)". Nuytsia. 2 (1): 35. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
4. "Maireana murrayana". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
5. "Kochia murrayana". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
6. Ewart, Alfred J.; Rees, Bertha (1909). "Contributions to the Flora of Australia No. 11". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 22 (1): 16. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
7. "Maireana murrayana". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 13 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. 265. ISBN   9780645629538.
9. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 13 August 2025.