Marianthus microphyllus

Last updated

Marianthus microphyllus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Pittosporaceae
Genus: Marianthus
Species:
M. microphyllus
Binomial name
Marianthus microphyllus
Synonyms [1]
  • Billardiera villosa(Turcz.) E.M.Benn.
  • Marianthus rhytidosporeus F.Muell.
  • Marianthus villosus(Turcz.) Benth.
  • Oncosporum microphyllumTurcz.
  • Oncosporum villosumTurcz.

Marianthus microphyllus is a species of flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a small, erect, spreading shrub with clustered, funnel-shaped, stem-clasping leaves and deep blue to almost purple flowers that darken as they age, arranged singly in leaf axils.

Contents

Description

Marianthus microphyllus is an erect, spreading shrub with sharp, hairy side shoots. Its adult leaves are funnel-shaped, stem-clasping, mostly clustered, and up to 10 mm (0.39 in) long. The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils, the sepals up to 3 mm (0.12 in) long. The five petals are deep blue, up to 10 mm (0.39 in) long and darken to almost purple as they age. Flowering mainly occurs from September to November and the fruit is a blue capsule 7–8 mm (0.28–0.31 in) long that turns brown as it ages. [2] [3]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1855 by Nikolai Turczaninow who gave it the name Oncosporum microphyllum in the Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou from specimens collected by James Drummond. [4] [5] In 1863, George Bentham transferred the species to Marianthus as M. microphyllus in Flora Australiensis . [6] The specific epithet (microphyllus) means "small-leaved". [7]

Distribution and habitat

Marianthus microphyllus grows in open mallee and dry woodland between Bremer Bay and Mount Maxwell and in the Frank Hann National Park in the Esperance Plains and Mallee bioregions of southern Western Australia. [3] [2]

Conservation status

This marianthus is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Thomasia sarotes</i> Species of shrub

Thomasia sarotes is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It is an upright, spreading shrub with purple, pink to mauve or white flowers and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.

<i>Melaleuca thyoides</i> Species of flowering plant

Melaleuca thyoides, commonly known as salt lake honey-myrtle is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with grey, papery or fibrous bark and very small, overlapping leaves on thin branchlets. It is a salt tolerant species often found on the edges of salt lakes.

<i>Boronia inornata</i> Species of plant

Boronia inornata, commonly known as desert boronia, is a plant in the citrus family, Rutaceae and is endemic to southern Australia. It is an erect shrub with three-part leaves and pink, red or white, four-petalled flowers.

<i>Boronia pulchella</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia pulchella, commonly known as the pink boronia, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae, and is endemic to a small area in the south-west of Western Australia. It is a slender shrub with rod-like stems, pinnate leaves and deep pink, four-petalled flowers.

<i>Boronia oxyantha</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia oxyantha is a plant in the citrus family, Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area in the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with many hairy branches, pinnate leaves and pink, four-petalled flowers that have a darker midrib.

<i>Hibbertia mucronata</i> Species of flowering plant

Hibbertia mucronata is a species of flowering plant in the family Dilleniaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with hairy branches, crowded, thick, tapering linear leaves ending in a sharp point, and golden yellow flowers with five stamens fused at their bases, all on one side of two densely hairy carpels.

Bossiaea divaricata is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a low, dense, openly-branched shrub with oblong to egg-shaped leaves and deep yellow and dark red flowers.

<i>Pultenaea verruculosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Pultenaea verruculosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with flat, hairy leaves, and yellow-orange and red, pea-like flowers.

<i>Daviesia anceps</i> Species of flowering plant

Daviesia anceps is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a dense, erect or low-lying shrub with its branchlets reduced to flattened cladodes, and yellow flowers with red markings.

<i>Daviesia crenulata</i> Species of flowering plant

Daviesia crenulata is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a bushy shrub with broadly egg-shaped phyllodes with a sharply-pointed end and wavy edges, and uniformly yellow-orange and maroon flowers.

Hibbertia verrucosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Dilleniaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with scattered, densely hairy, narrowly rectangular leaves and yellow flowers usually with ten stamens fused at the bases, all on one side of two densely softly-hairy carpels.

<i>Daviesia lancifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Daviesia lancifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a prostrate to erect, spreading shrub with egg-shaped, more or less round or linear phyllodes and yellow to orange and red flowers.

Daviesia pachyloma is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, bushy or spreading shrub with zigzagging branches, sharply-pointed, narrowly elliptic to linear phyllodes, and yellow and red flowers.

Olearia imbricata, commonly known as imbricate daisy bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with small, overlapping linear leaves and bluish-purple or white, daisy-like inflorescences.

<i>Spyridium cordatum</i> Species of shrub

Spyridium cordatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a prostrate, straggling or ascending shrub with leathery, broadly heart-shaped leaves with a notched tip, 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long with woolly, white or rust-coloured hairs on the lower side. The heads of flowers are 6.5–8.5 mm (0.26–0.33 in) wide with two to four floral leaves at the base. The sepals are up to 1.6 mm (0.063 in) long the petal tube shaggy-hairy with more or less glabrous lobes.

<i>Mirbelia multicaulis</i> Species of flowering plant

Mirbelia multicaulis is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, rigid shrub that typically grows to a height of 15–50 cm (5.9–19.7 in) and has erect stems with few branches. It has scattered, egg-shaped to oblong leaves 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long and spines that are longer than the leaves. The flowers are arranged in clusters in leaf axils or at the base of the spines and are yellow or orange and reddish-brown and appear in September and October. It was first formally described in 1853 by Nikolai Turczaninow who gave it the name Dichosema multicaule in the Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou. In 1864, George Bentham changed the name to Mirbelia multicaulis in Flora Australiensis. The specific epithet (multicaulis) means "many stems".

Androcalva cuneata is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a low, spreading, densely hairy shrub that sometimes forms suckers and has wedge-shaped leaves and clusters of 5 to 15 pink flowers.

Commersonia rotundifolia, commonly known as round-leaved rulingia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an upright, openly-branched shrub with elliptic to round leaves with wavy edges, and white flowers in clusters of 3 to 10.

<i>Androcalva crispa</i> Species of shrub

Androcalva crispa, commonly known as crisped leaf commersonia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a prostrate shrub that forms suckers from rhizomes and has densely new growth, clusters of lobed, egg-shaped or oblong leaves with wavy, serrated edges, and groups of white and pinkish-purple flowers.

Marianthus granulatus is a species of flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae and is endemic to a restricted part of the southwest of Western Australia. It is a twining shrub or climber with often clustered, egg-shaped to heart-shaped leaves and pale blue flowers with darker blue spots and yellow streaks, arranged in groups of three to five.

References

  1. 1 2 "Marianthus microphyllus". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Marianthus microphyllus". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. 1 2 "Marianthus microphyllus". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  4. "Oncosporum granulatum". APNI. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  5. Turczaninow, Nikolai (1855). "Animadversiones". Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou. 27 (4): 365. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  6. "Marianthus microphyllus". APNI. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  7. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 252. ISBN   9780958034180.