Muniria megalophylla

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Muniria megalophylla
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Muniria
Species:
M. megalophylla
Binomial name
Muniria megalophylla
(Munir) N.Streiber & B.J.Conn [1]

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.

Contents

Description

Muniria megalophylla is shrub which grows to a height of 1–2 m (3–7 ft) and has branches that have four corners in cross-section. The branches, leaves and some of the flower parts are densely covered with woolly, greyish, branched hairs. The leaves have a thin stalk 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) long and an egg-shaped blade 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long and 3–5 cm (1–2 in) wide which is heart-shaped at its base. The upper surface of the leaves is wrinkled and the lower surface has a distinct network of veins. [2]

The flowers are arranged singly or more usually in groups of up to three to seven in leaf axils near the ends of the branches, each flower on a woolly stalk 2–3 mm (0.08–0.1 in) long. The flowers are surrounded by leaf-like bracts and bracteoles. The five sepals are 22 mm (0.9 in) long, joined to form a tube for about half their length, hairy on the outside and on the inside of the lobes but glabrous inside the tube. The petals are reddish-pink, 22–27 mm (0.9–1 in) long and joined to form a tube 18–22 mm (0.7–0.9 in) long. The tube is densely woolly on the outside but mostly glabrous inside except for a narrow ring of hairs around the ovary and a few hairs on the largest petal lobe. There are five lobes on the end of the tube, the lower, central lobe is roughly circular, 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long and 5–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) wide at the base and larger than the other lobes which are a similar size and shape to each other. The four stamens reach past the end of the tube, the lower pair longer than the upper ones. Flowering occurs in June and is followed by fruit which is oblong but with four distinct ridges and hairy at one end and 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long. [2]

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1979 by Ahmad Abid Munir from a specimen collected near Yaimanyi Creek in Arnhem Land. It was given the name Pityrodia megalophylla and the description was published in Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. [2] [3] In 2011, Barry Conn, Murray Henwood and Nicola Streiber described a new genus, Muniria and transferred this species to it. [1] [4] The specific epithet (megalophylla) is derived from the Ancient Greek words megalo meaning "large" or "great" [5] : 517  and phyllon meaning "leaf". [5] : 466 

Distribution

This only known location is the type location near Yaimanyi Creek in Arnhem Land. [2]

Conservation

Muniria megalophylla is classified as "data deficient" under the Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act . [6]

Related Research Articles

<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.

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>Muniria</i> Genus of flowering plants

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.

<i>Quoya atriplicina</i> Species of flowering plant

Quoya atriplicina, commonly known as saltbush foxglove, is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a bushy shrub with its branches and leaves densely covered with a layer of hairs, giving them a greyish appearance. The leaves are broad-elliptic to almost circular in shape and the tube-shaped flowers are pink with purple spots inside.

<i>Quoya oldfieldii</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Dasymalla teckiana</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

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

Hemiphora bartlingii, commonly known as woolly dragon, 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 branches covered with greyish, rusty-coloured hairs, leaves with a blistered appearance and with white, pink or purple flowers over an extended period.

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> Species of flowering plant

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.

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

Hemiphora uncinata is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, spreading shrub with its branches densely covered with white, woolly hairs. Its leaves are rough and wrinkled and the flowers are tube-shaped with deep pink petals with wavy edges.

<i>Quoya loxocarpa</i> Species of flowering plant

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> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Pityrodia lanuginosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Pityrodia lanuginosa is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. It is a woolly, spreading shrub with its leaves arranged in four rows and off-white, bell-like flowers with dark purple streaks.

References

  1. 1 2 "Muniria megalophylla". APNI. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Munir, Ahmad Abid (1979). "A taxonomic revision of the genus Pityrodia (Chloanthaceae)". Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Garden. 2 (1): 30–33.
  3. ↑ "Pityrodia megalophylla". APNI. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  4. ↑ 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): 7. doi:10.1071/SB10039.
  5. 1 2 Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  6. ↑ "Muniria megalophylla". Northern Territory Government: flora NT. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
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