Ptilotus giganteus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ptilotus giganteus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Amaranthaceae |
| Genus: | Ptilotus |
| Species: | P. giganteus |
| Binomial name | |
| Ptilotus giganteus | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
List
| |
Ptilotus giganteus is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to the north-west of Australia. It is an erect annual herb, with lance-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and cylindrical green spikes of flowers.
Ptilotus giganteus is an erect annual herb, that typically grows to a height of up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in), its stems ribbed with a sparse covering of simple hairs. The leaves on the stems are arranged alternately, lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 10–80 mm (0.39–3.15 in) long and 3–12 mm (0.12–0.47 in) wide. The flowers are arranged in cylindrical spikes 20–180 mm (0.79–7.09 in) long and 20–27 mm (0.79–1.06 in) wide, with narrowly egg-shaped, translucent bracts 2.0–3.8 mm (0.079–0.150 in) long, and broadly egg-shaped, straw-coloured bracteoles 2.8–4.4 mm (0.11–0.17 in) long and glabrous. The tepals are mostly 8–11 mm (0.31–0.43 in) long and there are 4 stamens and a single staminode, the style is 4.5–10.5 mm (0.18–0.41 in) long and straight, fixed to the centre of the ovary. Flowering occurs from March to September.[2][3][4]
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1849 by Alfred Moquin-Tandon who gave it the name Trichinium giganteum in de Candolle's Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham.[5][6] In 2010, Robert Wayne Davis and Ryonen Butcher transferred the species to Ptilotus as P. giganteus in the journal Nuytsia. The specific epithet (giganteus) means 'exceptionally large'.[7]