Biology:Maireana brevifolia

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Short description: Species of plant

Maireana brevifolia
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Maireana
Species:
M. brevifolia
Binomial name
Maireana brevifolia
(R.Br.) Paul G.Wilson[1]
Synonyms[1]
  • Enchylaena tamariscina (Lindl.) Druce
  • Kochia brevifolia R.Br.
  • Kochia tamariscina (Lindl.) J.M.Black
  • Kochia thymifolia Lindl.
  • Salsola brachyphylla Spreng. nom. illeg.
  • Suaeda tamariscina Lindl.

Maireana brevifolia, commonly known as small-leaf bluebush, eastern cotton bush or short-leaf bluebush[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to Australia, and naturalised in other countries. It is a bushy, erect or rounded shrub or short-lived perennial plant with scattered, fleshy egg-shaped to spindle-shaped leaves, bisexual flowers arranged singly, and a thick and fleshy fruiting perianth with fan-shaped wings.

Description

Maireana brevifolia is a bushy, erect or rounded shrub or short-lived perennial plant that grows to a height of 0.2–1 m (7.9 in–3 ft 3.4 in) and has thin branches, sparsely covered with woolly hairs. Its leaves are egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base to slender spindle-shaped, 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) long, fleshy and glabrous. The flowers are bisexual and arranged singly and mostly glabrous. The fruiting perianth is glabrous, thin-walled and hemispherical, about 2 mm (0.079 in) in diameter with a faintly ten-ribbed tube and five papery, fan-shaped wings up to 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) long.[2][3][4][5][6]

Taxonomy

This species was first described in 1810 by Robert Brown who gave it the name Kochia brevifolia in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae.[7][8] In 1975, Paul G. Wilson transferred the species to Maireana as M. brevifolia in the journal Nuytsia.[3][9] The specific epithet (brevifolia) means 'short-leaved'.[10]

Distribution and habitat

Maireana brevifolia grows in heavy, winter-wet and sometimes saline soils in the south-west of Western Australia,[11] the banks of the upper Finke River in the south of the Northern Territory,[6] the south-east of South Australia,[12] Queensland,[2] inland New South Wales[4] and Victoria.[5] It is one of the first species to appear in disturbed saline habitats.[2][11]

Cotton bush is also naturalised in South Africa, the Middle East and the Canary Islands.[13]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Maireana brevifolia". Australian Plant Census. https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/101217. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Wilson, Paul G.. "Maireana brevifolia". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Maireana%20brevifolia. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wilson, Paul G. (1975). "A Taxonomic Revision of the genus Maireana (Chenopodiaceae).". Nuytsia 2 (1): 22–23. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/53253933#page/28/mode/1up. Retrieved 16 May 2025. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jacobs, Surrey W.L.. "Maireana brevifolia". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Maireana~brevifolia. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Walsh, Neville G.; Stajsic, Val. "Maireana brevifolia". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/4df93492-b91a-4a28-83d6-b77adc943992. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Marieana brevifolia". Northern Territory Government. https://eflora.nt.gov.au/factsheet?id=1202. 
  7. ↑ "Kochia brevifolia". Australian Plant Name Index. https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/518472. 
  8. ↑ Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen. London: Typis R. Taylor et socii. p. 409. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21871#page/277/mode/1up. Retrieved 16 May 2025. 
  9. ↑ "Maireana brevifolia". Australian Plant Name Index. https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/528693. 
  10. ↑ George, Alex; Sharr, Francis (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 150. ISBN 9780958034180. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Maireana brevifolia". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife. https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/2537. 
  12. ↑ "Maireana brevifolia". Seeds of South Australia. https://spapps.environment.sa.gov.au/SeedsOfSA/speciesinformation.html?rid=2786. 
  13. ↑ "Maireana brevifolia". Plants of the World Online. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:166087-1. 

Wikidata ☰ Q13541848 entry



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