Muniria

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Muniria
Pityrodia -Muniria-quadrangula.jpg
Flower of Muniria quadrangulata
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Subfamily: Prostantheroideae
Genus: Muniria
N.Streiber & B.J.Conn [1]
Species

See text

Muniria is a genus of four species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae and is endemic to the Northern Territory in Australia. Plants in this genus are woolly shrubs with five petals joined to form a tube-shaped flower with four stamens of unequal lengths. These species are similar to those in the genus Pityrodia except that the branches are distinctly 4-angled in cross section and the fruit has calluses or ridges.

Contents

Description

Plants in the genus Muniria are evergreen shrubs, 1–2 m (3–7 ft) tall and densely covered with woolly hairs. The stems and branches are four-angled in cross section. The leaves are simple, elliptic to egg-shaped, arranged in opposite pairs, covered with woolly hairs and glands. The flowers are arranged singly or in groups of up to twelve in leaf axils and single flowers or groups are surrounded by leaf-like bracteoles. Flowers have five sepals which are joined for about half their length to form a tube with five lobes. The five petals are pale yellow to red and form a slightly curved tube with five lobes on the end, the upper lobes slightly shorter than the lower ones. There are four stamens with the lower pair shorter than the upper ones. The fruit is dry, does not release its seeds when mature and has ridges or calluses. [2]

Taxonomy and naming

The genus was first described by Nikola Streiber and Barry Conn in 2011 and the description was published Australian Systematic Botany. [2] [3] The type species is Muniria quadrangulata which was first formally described in 1979 by Ahmad Abid Munir as Pityrodia quadrangulata. [4] [5] In 2011, Barry Conn, Murray Henwood and Nikola Streiber transferred P. quadrangulata and three others in that genus to the new genus Muniria. [2]

Four species of Muniria are accepted by the Australian Plant Census as at March 2020:

Distribution

All species of Muniria are endemic to the Northern Territory. [10] [11] [12] [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Pityrodia</i>

Pityrodia is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae and is endemic to Australia, most species occurring in Western Australia, a few in the Northern Territory and one in Queensland. Plants in this genus are shrubs with five petals joined to form a tube-shaped flower with four stamens of unequal lengths.

<i>Dasymalla</i> Genus of flowering plants

Dasymalla is a genus of five species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. Plants in this genus are woolly shrubs with five petals joined to form a tube-shaped flower with four stamens of unequal lengths. These species are similar to those in the genus Pityrodia except that the fruit does not release its seeds when mature.

<i>Hemiphora</i> Genus of flowering plants

Hemiphora is a genus of five species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. Plants in this genus are woolly shrubs with warty, hairy leaves and with five petals joined to form a tube-shaped flower with four stamens. These species are similar to those in the genus Chloanthes in that the base of the leaves extends down the stem. They differ from Chloanthes, in that the leaves only extend a short distance down the stem.

<i>Quoya</i> (plant)

Quoya is a genus of flowering plants in family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. Plants in this genus are shrubs with five petals joined to form a tube-shaped flower with four stamens of unequal lengths.

Dasymalla axillaris, commonly known as native foxglove or woolly foxglove, is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a small, diffuse shrub with its branches, leaves and some of its flower parts densely covered with white, woolly hairs. The flowers are a shade of red and tube-shaped with the stamens and style extending beyond the end of the five petals.

<i>Quoya oldfieldii</i>


Quoya oldfieldii, commonly known as Oldfield's foxglove, is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with its branches and leaves densely covered with a layer of brownish hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped and the tube-shaped flowers are pink with purple spots inside.

Dasymalla chorisepala is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia and the Northern Territory. It is a small shrub with its branches and leaves densely covered with hairs. The leaves are stalkless, egg-shaped and covered with yellowish hairs while the flowers are small, tube-shaped and white.

Dasymalla glutinosa is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a spreading, sticky shrub with glabrous branches, egg-shaped, stalkless leaves and small, white or cream-coloured, tube-shaped flowers.

Dasymalla teckiana is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a small, openly branched, sticky shrub with mauve and white, bugle-shaped flowers.

<i>Muniria quadrangulata</i> Species of shrub

Muniria quadrangulata is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. It is a shrub with its branches and leaves covered with a thick layer of woolly hairs and pale yellow flowers in groups of up to nine, surrounded by woolly hairs.

Muniria angustisepala is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the Northern Territory. It is an erect shrub with softly hairy, warty leaves and pale yellow, woolly flowers.

<i>Hemiphora elderi</i> Species of flowering plant

Hemiphora elderi, commonly known as red velvet, is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small shrub with its leaves densely covered with white, woolly hairs and with small clusters of reddish-purple, bell-shaped flowers.

<i>Quoya dilatata</i>

Quoya dilatata is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a low, spreading shrub with its branches and leaves densely covered with a layer of white, woolly hairs. The leaves are wrinkled or crinkly and the tube-shaped flowers are orange-red and hairy on the outside.

Muniria lanceolata is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. It is a shrub with its branches and leaves densely covered with a layer of short, greyish, branched hairs and red flowers near the ends of the branches.

Muniria megalophylla is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. It is a shrub with its branches and leaves densely covered with a layer of short, greyish, branched hairs and small groups of reddish-pink flowers near the ends of the branches.

<i>Hemiphora exserta</i> Species of flowering plant

Hemiphora exserta is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a sprawling shrub with its branches densely covered with white, woolly hairs. Its leaves are rough and wrinkled and the flowers are deep pink or dark red, curved and tube-shaped with spreading petal lobes on the end.

<i>Hemiphora lanata</i> Species of flowering plant

Hemiphora lanata is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a sprawling shrub with its branches and leaves densely covered with white, woolly hairs and with deep pink or dark red, curved, tube-shaped flowers with spreading petal lobes on the end. It is similar to Hemiphora exserta except for its cottony leaf-covering and its longer stamens.

<i>Quoya loxocarpa</i>

Quoya loxocarpa is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia and the Northern Territory. It is an open shrub with many spindly tangled branches. The leaves are oblong and woolly when young and the flowers are whitish pink with purple spots inside and are surrounded by woolly sepals.

Quoya paniculata is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub with its branches and leaves densely covered with a layer of woolly hairs. The flowers are usually arranged in small groups surrounded by woolly hairs and are bell-shaped and deep purple or deep lilac. It is similar to Dasymalla axillaris and D. terminalis but is distinguished from them by its wedge-shaped leaf ends and more northerly distribution.

<i>Quoya verbascina</i>

Quoya verbascina, commonly known as golden bush, is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with its branches and leaves densely covered with woolly hairs. The leaves are often oblong but very variable in shape and the flowers are pinkish-white with pink spots inside and are surrounded by yellow woolly sepals.

References

  1. "Muniria". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Conn, Barry J.; Henwood, Murray J.; Streiber, Nicola (2011). "Synopsis of the tribe Chloantheae and new nomenclatural combinations in Pityrodia s.lat. (Lamiaceae)". Australian Systematic Botany. 24 (1): 1–9. doi:10.1071/SB10039.
  3. "Muniria". APNI. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  4. Munir, Ahmad Abid (1979). "A taxonomic revision of the genus Pityrodia (Chloanthaceae)". Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Garden. 2 (1): 28–30.
  5. "Pityrodia quadrangulata". APNI. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  6. "Muniria angustisepala". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  7. "Muniria lanceolata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  8. "Muniria megalophylla". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  9. "Muniria quadrangulata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  10. "Muniria angustifolia". Northern Territory flora online. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  11. "Muniria lanceolata". Northern Territory flora online. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  12. "Muniria megalophylla". Northern Territory flora online. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  13. "Muniria quadrangulata". Northern Territory flora online. Retrieved 30 November 2016.