Maireana trichoptera
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mallee bluebush | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Amaranthaceae |
| Genus: | Maireana |
| Species: | M. trichoptera |
| Binomial name | |
| Maireana trichoptera | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
|
Bassia dallachyana (Benth.) F.Muell. | |
Maireana trichoptera, commonly known as mallee bluebush,[3] pink-seeded bluebush or downy bluebush,[4] or spike bluebush,[5] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae, native to all mainland states and territories of Australia except Queensland. It is an erect perennial shrub with white, woolly branches, fleshy semiterete leaves, white bisexual flowers arranged singly, and a hairy fruiting perianth with a thin, horizontal wing.
Maireana trichoptera is an erect, perennial shrub that typically grows up to 50 cm (20 in) high, with woolly hairy branches. The leaves are fleshy, semiterete or narrowly club-shaped, 5–12 mm (0.20–0.47 in) long and covered with fine, soft hairs. The flowers are bisexual and arranged singly, sometimes crowded in spikes at the ends of branches. The fruiting perianth is about 10–12 mm (0.39–0.47 in) long and mostly covered with soft hairs on most of the upper surface, with a tube about 4 mm (0.16 in) high, constricted in the middle, the lower half expanded into a fleshy, hollow stalk enclosing the receptacle. The wing is thin, about 10 mm (0.39 in) in diameter and covered with soft hairs, and has a single slit.[4][6][7][8][9]
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1923 by John McConnell Black, who gave it the name Kochia excavata var. trichoptera in Transactions and proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia.[10][11] In 1975, Paul Graham Wilson transferred the species to the genus, Maireana as Maireana trichoptera in the journal Nuytsia.[6][12] The specific epithet (trichoptera) means 'hair-winged', referring to a ridge on the perianth tube.[13]
