Ptilotus modestus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ptilotus modestus | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Amaranthaceae |
| Genus: | Ptilotus |
| Species: | P. modestus |
| Binomial name | |
| Ptilotus modestus | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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List
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Ptilotus modestus, commonly known as paper foxtail[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to eastern continental Australia. It is an erect annual or short-lived perennial herb, with lance-shaped leaves at the base of the plant, more or less sessile stem leaves, and oval to hemispherical spikes of green flowers.
Ptilotus modestus is an erect annual or short-lived perennial herb that typically grows to a height of up to 20 cm (7.9 in) and has a sparse covering of hairs when young. The leaves at the base of the plant are more or less sessile, lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 5–30 mm (0.20–1.18 in) long and 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) wide. The stem leaves are more or less sessile, linear to narrowly lance shaped, 5–25 mm (0.20–0.98 in) long and 1–4 mm (0.039–0.157 in) wide. The flowers are green and arranged in an oval to hemispherical spike 12–24 mm (0.47–0.94 in) long and 15–20 mm (0.59–0.79 in) wide. There are broadly egg-shaped bracts 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long and broadly egg-shaped bracteoles 3.6–5 mm (0.14–0.20 in) long. The tepals are overlapping, 6–8.8 mm (0.24–0.35 in) long, green along the midline and whitish or opaque with a slight reddish tinge along the edges. The outer surface has short hairs along the midline, the inner surface with tufts of hairs on the edges. There are three or four fertile stamens and two staminodes, and the style is curved, 4.5–5.5 mm (0.18–0.22 in) long. Flowering mainly occurs from May to October, sometimes in February to April and November.[2][3]