Commersonia craurophylla, commonly known as brittle leaved rulingia,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and endemic to southern continental Australia. It is a dense, spreading shrub with crinkled, narrowly oblong to linear leaves, and white to cream-coloured flowers.
| Commersonia craurophylla | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malvales |
| Family: | Malvaceae |
| Genus: | Commersonia |
| Species: | C. craurophylla
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| Binomial name | |
| Commersonia craurophylla | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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List
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Description
editCommersonia craurophylla is a dense, spreading shrub that typically grows to 0.5–2 m (1 ft 8 in – 6 ft 7 in) high and 0.5–1.5 m (1 ft 8 in – 4 ft 11 in) wide and has dense, matted, white or rust-coloured, star-shaped hairs on its new growth. The leaves are narrowly oblong to linear, 4–25 mm (0.16–0.98 in) long and 1–5 mm (0.039–0.197 in) wide on a petiole 1–11 mm (0.039–0.433 in) long with stipules 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) long at the base. The upper surface of the leaves has the veins imprinted, the edges are rolled under, and both surfaces are densely covered with star-shaped hairs. The flowers are arranged in dense heads of 8 to 26 on the ends of branches on a peduncle 3–16 mm (0.12–0.63 in) long, each flower on a pedicel 3–7 mm (0.12–0.28 in) long. The flowers are 8–10 mm (0.31–0.39 in) wide with five white to cream-coloured, petal-like sepals and five white petals with a hairy, linear ligule, and a single hairy staminode between each pair of stamens. Flowering occurs from July to November and the fruit is a hairy, spherical capsule 3 mm (0.12 in) in diameter.[3][4]
Taxonomy
editThis species was first formally described in 1875 by Ferdinand von Mueller who gave it the name Rulingia craurophylla in his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae,[5][6] but in 1882 he transferred it to the genus, Commersonia.[7][8]
The specific epithet (craurophylla) means "brittle-leaved".[9]
Distribution and habitat
editCommersonia craurophylla grows in mallee woodland and is widespread between Kalgoorlie and Esperance and Coolgardie and Lake Grace in the south-west of Western Australia, and in isolated places in the south-east of South Australia, including on the Eyre Peninsula.[3][4]
References
edit- ^ a b "Commersonia craurophylla". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ "Commersonia craurophylla". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ a b Blake, Trevor L. (2021). Lantern bushes of Australia ; Thomasias & allied genera : a field and horticultural guide. Victoria: Australian Plants Society, Keilor Plains Group. pp. 176–177. ISBN 9780646839301.
- ^ a b "Rulingia craurophylla". State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ "Rulingia craurophylla". APNI. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ von Mueller, Ferdinand (1875). Fragmemnta Phytographiae Australiae. Vol. 9. Melbourne: Victorian Government Printer. p. 59. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ "Commersonia craurophylla". APNI. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ Mueller, F.J.H. von (1882). Systematic Census of Australian Plants. p. 16.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 172. ISBN 9780958034180.