Pityrodia augustensis

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Mt. Augustus foxglove
Pityrodia augustensis (leaves and flowers).jpg
Pityrodia augustensis leaves and flowers
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Pityrodia
Species:
P. augustensis
Binomial name
Pityrodia augustensis
Map.Pityrodia augustensis.jpg
Occurrence data from the ALA

Pityrodia augustensis, commonly known as Mount Augustus foxglove, [2] is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to a small area in Western Australia. It is a small, bushy shrub with its branches, leaves and some of its flower parts densely covered with woolly hairs. It is similar to the lovely foxglove ( Dasymalla axillaris ) and the sandplain foxglove ( Dasymalla terminalis ) but has very different leaves from those species.

Contents

Description

Pityrodia augustensis is a bushy shrub which grows to a height of about 1 m (3 ft) and which has its branches densely covered with greenish-white branched hairs. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs along the branches and are 3–6 cm (1–2 in) long, 6–15 mm (0.2–0.6 in) wide, narrow elliptic in shape and wedge-shaped at both ends. They are densely covered with a matted layer of woolly hairs. [3] [2] [4]

The flowers are arranged singly or in groups of up to five on woolly stalks, usually 2–5 mm (0.08–0.2 in) long the groups up to 5–15 cm (2–6 in) long. Each flower is surrounded by woolly bracts and bracteoles. The sepals are a deep purple-lilac colour, mostly woolly-hairy and are 9–12 mm (0.4–0.5 in) long forming a short tube near their base. The petals are a deep lilac colour and form a broad tube 18–25 mm (0.7–1 in) long with two "lips" - the upper one with two lobes and the lower one with three lobes. The tube is sparsely hairy on the outside and mostly glabrous on the inside. The four stamens are usually enclosed within the tube, one pair shorter than the others. Flowering occurs from August to October and is followed by a more or less spherical fruit surrounded by the sepals. [3] [2] [4]

Pityrodia augustensis in the Mount Augustus National Park Pityrodia augustensis (habit).jpg
Pityrodia augustensis in the Mount Augustus National Park

This species is similar to P. axillaris but that species has a deep red or scarlet petal tube which is almost glabrous on the outside. It also resembles P. terminalis which, however has elongated elliptic leaves which are more or less stem-clasping at the base. [3]

Taxonomy and naming

Pityrodia augustensis was first formally described in 1979 by Ahmad Abid Munir from a specimen collected on the northern slopes of Mount Augustus, and the description was published in Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. [1] [3] The specific epithet (augustensis) refers to the location of the type specimen. [3]

Distribution and habitat

This pityrodia grows on rocky hillsides in the Mount Augustus National Park and on Mount Fraser in the Robinson Ranges near Meekatharra, in the Gascoyne biogeographic region. [5] [6]

Conservation

Pityrodia augustensis is classified as "vulnerable" under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 [7] and as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia) [5] meaning that it is likely to become extinct or is rare, or otherwise in need of special protection. [8] The main threats to its survival are grazing and, in the case of some populations, mining activities. [2]

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>

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>Quoya atriplicina</i>

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>Dasymalla terminalis</i>

Dasymalla terminalis, commonly known as native foxglove, is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with its branches, leaves and some of its flower parts densely covered with white, woolly hairs. The leaves are thick and soft and the flowers are tube-shaped, pale to deep pinkish-purple or claret red.

<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>Pityrodia loricata</i> Species of plant

Pityrodia loricata is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a dense, greyish, multi-stemmed shrub with whorled leaves, prominent sepals and pale, pinkish-white flowers. It is common in Western Australia and the Northern Territory and there is a single record from South Australia.

<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.

<i>Pityrodia canaliculata</i>

Pityrodia canaliculata is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to a small area in Western Australia. It is a many-branched shrub with all its parts, except the petals covered with small, circular scales. The tube-shaped flowers are white with reddish spots inside.

<i>Pityrodia chrysocalyx</i>

Pityrodia chrysocalyx is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, bushy shrub with small, glossy leaves, and flowers with white petals and a golden-yellow calyx.

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>

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>

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.

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.

<i>Pityrodia lanuginosa</i>

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.

<i>Pityrodia obliqua</i>

Pityrodia obliqua is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with hairy stems, wrinkled, egg-shaped leaves and pink, bell-like flowers with purple streaks inside.

References

  1. 1 2 "Pityrodia augustensis". APNI. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Approved Conservation Advice for Pityrodia augustensis (Mt Augustus Foxglove)" (PDF). Australian Government Department of Environment and Energy. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Munir, Ahmad Abid (1979). "A taxonomic revision of the genus Pityrodia (Chloanthaceae)". Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Garden. 2 (1): 120–123.
  4. 1 2 "Plant of the Month — September 2012". Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Pityrodia augustensis". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  6. ↑ Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 213. ISBN   0646402439.
  7. ↑ "Approved Conservation Advice for Pityrodia augustensis (Mt Augustus Foxglove)" (PDF). Australian Government Department of the Environment. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
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