Maireana trichoptera

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Mallee bluebush
Maireana trichoptera (8692973154).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. trichoptera
Binomial name
Maireana trichoptera
Synonyms [2]

Bassia dallachyana(Benth.) F.Muell.
Chenolea dallachyanaBenth.
Kochia excavata var. trichopteraJ.M.Black
Kochia villosa var. lasiopteraF.Muell.

Contents

Maireana trichoptera, commonly known as mallee bluebush, [3] pink-seeded bluebush or downy bluebush, [4] or spike bluebush, [5] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae, native to all mainland states and territories of Australia except Queensland. It is an erect perennial shrub with white, woolly branches, fleshy semiterete leaves, white bisexual flowers arranged singly, and a hairy fruiting perianth with a thin, horizontal wing.

Description

Maireana trichoptera is an erect, perennial shrub that typically grows up to 50 cm (20 in) high, with woolly hairy branches. The leaves are fleshy, semiterete or narrowly club-shaped, 5–12 mm (0.20–0.47 in) long and covered with fine, soft hairs. The flowers are bisexual and arranged singly, sometimes crowded in spikes at the ends of branches. The fruiting perianth is about 10–12 mm (0.39–0.47 in) long and mostly covered with soft hairs on most of the upper surface, with a tube about 4 mm (0.16 in) high, constricted in the middle, the lower half expanded into a fleshy, hollow stalk enclosing the receptacle. The wing is thin, about 10 mm (0.39 in) in diameter and covered with soft hairs, and has a single slit. [4] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1923 by John McConnell Black, who gave it the name Kochia excavata var. trichoptera in Transactions and proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia . [10] [11] In 1975, Paul Graham Wilson transferred the species to the genus, Maireana as Maireana trichoptera in the journal Nuytsia . [6] [12] The specific epithet (trichoptera) means 'hair-winged', referring to a ridge on the perianth tube. [13]

Distribution and habitat

Maireana trichoptera is widespread in western New South Wales, western Victoria, South Australia, temperate Western Australia and the southern part of the Northern Territory. In New South Wales it is widespread usually on lighter soils in the west of that state, [4] in Victoria it is found on deep sand or on heavier loamy soils with belah ( Casuarina pauper ), [8] and in the Northern Territory it occurs on gravelly rises, low hills and breakaways. [9]

References

  1. ↑ "Maireana trichoptera". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  2. ↑ "Maireana trichoptera (J.M.Black) Paul G.Wilson | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". powo.science.kew.org. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  3. ↑ Kutsche, Frank; Lay, Brendan; Croft, Tim; Kellermann, Jurgen (2013). Plants of Outback South Australia. Adelaide: State Herbarium of South Australia. p. 111. ISBN   9781922027603.
  4. 1 2 3 Jacobs, Surrey Wilfrid Laurance. "Maireana trichoptera". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
  5. ↑ "Maireana trichoptera". Seeds of South Australia. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
  6. 1 2 Wilson, Paul G. (1975). "A Taxonomic Revision of the genus Maireana (Chenopodiaceae)". Nuytsia. 2 (1): 31–32. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
  7. ↑ Wilson, Paul G. "Maireana trichoptera". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Maireana trichoptera". VICFLORA-Flora of Victoria. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  9. 1 2 "Maireana trichoptera". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
  10. ↑ "Kochia excavata var. trichoptera". APNI. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
  11. ↑ Black, J.M. (1923). "Additions to the Flora of South Australia. No. 21". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia. 47: 368.
  12. ↑ "Maireana trichoptera". APNI. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
  13. ↑ George, Alex S.; Sharr, Francis A. (2023). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings - A Glossary (fifth ed.). Kardinya: Four Gables Press. pp. 338–339. ISBN   9780645629538.
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