Maireana triptera

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Maireana triptera
Maireana triptera immature 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. triptera
Binomial name
Maireana triptera
Synonyms [1]
  • Kochia tripteraBenth. var. triptera
  • Kochia tripteraBenth.
Habit Maireana triptera i.jpg
Habit

Maireana triptera, commonly known as three-wing bluebush, [2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to mainland Australia. It is a glaucous, compact perennial shrub with mostly glabrous branchlets, fleshy semiterete leaves, mostly bisexual flowers arranged singly, and a glabrous fruiting perianth with five vertical wings fused to a horizontal wing.

Contents

Description

Maireana triptera is a glaucous, perennial shrub that typically grows up to 50 cm (20 in) high and is glabrous, apart from soft hairs in leaf axils. The leaves are arranged densely, alternate, fleshy, slender and semiterete, about 10 mm (0.39 in) long with a pointed end. The flowers are bisexual and arranged singly. The fruiting perianth is glabrous, glossy dark brown to black when dry, with a top-shaped, crusty tube and five papery vertical wings running the length of the tube and fused with a horizontal wing about 8 mm (0.31 in) in diameter. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1870 by George Bentham, who gave it the name Kochia triptera in his Flora Australiensis . [7] [8] In 1975, Paul Graham Wilson transferred the species to the genus Maireana as Maireana triptera in the journal Nuytsia . [3] [9] The specific epithet (triptera) means 'three-winged'. [10]

Distribution and habitat

Maireana triptera is widespread in mainland Australia where it usually grows in sandy soils, often in mallee. It occurs in north-western Queensland, central and western New South Wales, north-western Victoria, South Australia, central Western Australia and south from Marble Bar in the Northern Territory. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [11]

References

  1. 1 2 "Maireana triptera". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Jacobs, Surrey Wilfrid Laurance. "Maireana triptera". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 Wilson, Paul G. (1975). "A Taxonomic Revision of the genus Maireana (Chenopodiaceae)". Nuytsia. 2 (1): 38–39. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  4. 1 2 Wilson, Paul G. "Maireana triptera". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  5. 1 2 Walsh, Neville G. "Maireana triptera". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Maireana triptera". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  7. ↑ "Kochia triptera". APNI. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  8. ↑ Bentham, George (1870). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 5. London: Lovell Reeves & Co. p. 185. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  9. ↑ "Maireana triptera". APNI. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  10. ↑ George, Alex S.; Sharr, Francis A. (2023). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings - A Glossary (fifth ed.). Kardinya: Four Gables Press. p. 340. ISBN   9780645629538.
  11. ↑ "Maireana triptera". Seeds of South Australia. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
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