Abutilon leucopetalum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Desert Chinese-lantern | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malvales |
| Family: | Malvaceae |
| Genus: | Abutilon |
| Species: | A. leucopetalum |
| Binomial name | |
| Abutilon leucopetalum | |
Abutilon leucopetalum commonly known as desert Chinese lantern,[2] is a flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a small shrub with yellow flowers and branches densely covered with soft hairs.
Abutilon leucopetalum is a small shrub to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) high or more with a dense covering on branches of thick, velvety, star-shaped hairs mixed with longer, spreading simple hairs including the lobes and calyx. The leaves are soft, somewhat thick, variably shaped including oval or oval-lance shaped, heart-shaped, scalloped, sometimes tapering to a point and mostly retain soft, smooth hairs on both surfaces. The flowers are yellow ageing to white, tubular bell-shaped, calyx about 14–20 mm (0.55–0.79 in) long, peduncle up to 3 cm (1.2 in) long. Flowering may occur at any time of the year and the fruit is a capsule 8–15 mm (0.31–0.59 in) in diameter, consisting of 7-10 segments containing 2 or 3 dark, softly hairy seeds.[2][3]