Maireana microcarpa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Maireana microcarpa | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Amaranthaceae |
| Genus: | Maireana |
| Species: | M. microcarpa |
| Binomial name | |
| Maireana microcarpa | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Maireana microcarpa, commonly known as swamp bluebush,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to south-eastern, continental Australia. It is a weakly upright shrub with slender branches covered with woolly white hairs when young, fleshy, terete leaves, flowers arranged singly and a dark brown or pale, tube-shaped fruiting perianth with a simple wing.
Maireana microcarpa is a weakly upright shrub that typically grows to a height of up to about 40 cm (16 in) and has slender branches that are loosely covered with woolly white hairs when young. The leaves are fleshy, arranged alternately, subterete to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, mostly 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long and glabrous. The flowers are arranged singly, bisexual and glabrous, the fruiting perianth glabrous with a shortly cup-shaped tube 1.5 mm (0.059 in) high and 2 mm (0.079 in) in diameter, ribbed and crust-like, with a wing 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) in diameter with a radial slit.[2][3][4]
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1870 by George Bentham who gave it the name Kochia villosa var. microcarpa in his Flora Australiensis.[5][6] In 1975, Paul Wilson transferred the species to Maireana as M. microcarpa in the journal Nuytsia.[7] The specific epithet (microcarpa) means 'small-fruited'.[8]