Diocirea microphylla is a plant in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae), and is endemic to a small area near Coolgardie in Western Australia. It is a low shrub with thin branches and minute leaves pressed against the stems. It is readily distinguished from the other three species in the genus by its tiny leaves.
| Diocirea microphylla | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Scrophulariaceae |
| Genus: | Diocirea |
| Species: | D. microphylla
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| Binomial name | |
| Diocirea microphylla | |
Description
editDiocirea microphylla is a shrub with many stems and which sometimes grows to a height of 0.8 metres (3 ft) and spreads to a width of 1.6 metres (5 ft). Its branches are less than about 1 millimetre (0.04 in) in diameter and unlike others in the genus, lack raised glands. The leaves are mostly 1.5–2 millimetres (0.06–0.08 in) long, about 1 millimetre (0.04 in) wide, egg-shaped, pressed against the stem and sticky due to the presence of resin.[2]
The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils and lack a stalk. There are 5 egg-shaped, pointed green sepals joined together at their base. The petals are white or pale violet joined to form a tube 1.5–2.5 millimetres (0.06–0.1 in) long with lobes which are about the same length and are spotted purple near their bases. The tube is mostly glabrous except for a few hairs on the bottom lobe. There are 4 stamens which extend slightly beyond the petal tube. The fruit that follows flowering is cone-shaped, dark brown, wrinkled and glabrous and about 2 by 1.5 millimetres (0.08 in × 0.06 in).[2]
Taxonomy and naming
editDiocirea microphylla was first formally described by taxonomist Bob Chinnock in Eremophila and allied genera: a monograph of the plant family Myoporaceae in 2007 from a specimen collected near Coolgardie.[3][2] Chinnock states that the specific epithet is derived from "Greek microphylla, small leaves".[2] In ancient Greek, the feminine adjective mikrophyllos (μικρόφυλλος) means "with small leaves",[4] the same meaning that is ascribed to the feminine adjective microphylla in botanical Latin.[5]
Distribution and habitat
editDiocirea microphylla occurs in a small area north of Coolgardie in the Coolgardie biogeographic region where it grows in woodland on clay loam. Only a few populations are known but in several of these it forms an almost continuous ground cover with thousands of individual plants.[2][6][7]
Conservation
editDiocirea microphylla has been classified as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife[6] meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.[8]
References
edit- ^ "Diocirea microphylla". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Chinnock, R.J. (Bob) (2007). Eremophila and allied genera : a monograph of the plant family Myoporaceae (1st ed.). Dural, NSW: Rosenberg. pp. 174–176. ISBN 9781877058165.
- ^ "Diocerea microphylla". APNI. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
- ^ Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). A Greek-English Lexicon. Revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie.Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- ^ Backer, C.A. (1936). Verklarend woordenboek der wetenschappelijke namen van de in Nederland en Nederlandsch-Indië in het wild groeiende en in tuinen en parken gekweekte varens en hoogere planten (Edition Nicoline van der Sijs).
- ^ a b "Diocirea microphylla Chinnock". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 332. ISBN 0646402439.
- ^ "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 11 July 2019.