Maireana melanocoma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Maireana melanocoma | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Amaranthaceae |
| Genus: | Maireana |
| Species: | M. melanocoma |
| Binomial name | |
| Maireana melanocoma | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Kochia melanocoma F.Muell. | |
Maireana melanocoma, commonly known as pussy bluebush,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to the north-west of Western Australia. It is weak, diffuse, much-branched, mostly glabrous shrub with slender branches, more or less terete to spindle-shaped leaves, flowers in spike-like groups, and a glabrous pale green to gold or pale red fruiting perianth that turns black as it ages, with a horizontal wing covered with erect, hair-like processes.
Maireana melanocoma is a weak, diffuse, mostly glabrous, much-branched shrub with slender, striated branches and that typically grows to a height of up to 50 cm (20 in). The leaves are more or less terete to narrowly spindle-shaped, 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long with a sharp point. The flowers are arranged singly, but clustered in glabrous, spike-like clusters on the ends of branches. The fruiting perianth is glabrous, pale green to gold or pale red at first, later turning black, with a convex, thick-walled tube with a simple horizontal wing 12–16 mm (0.47–0.63 in) in diameter, the upper perianth covered with many erect, hair-like processes up to 6 mm (0.24 in) long.[2][3][4]