Seringia collina explained

Seringia collina is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is a low growing, small rounded shrub with hairy branches, oblong to egg-shaped leaves and usually purple flowers in groups of 3 to 6.

Description

Seringia collina is a low growing, small rounded suckering shrub that typically grows up to high and wide, its branchlets covered with rust-coloured hairs. The leaves are oblong to egg-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long, with narrow stipules up to long at the base. The upper surface of the leaves has a sparse covering of star-shaped hairs and the lower surface is covered with dense, star-shaped hairs and a few glandular hairs. The flowers are purple, rarely white, up to wide, borne in groups of 3 to 6 on a peduncle long, each flower on a pedicel long opposite the leaves. The sepals are wider than long, joined at the base for less than half their length, and there are no petals. The staminodes are tiny, and the filaments are longer than the anthers. Flowering occurs from January to November and the ovary is hairy with segmented carpels.[1]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1928 by Karel Domin who gave it the name Keraudrenia collina in Bibliotheca Botanica from specimens he collected near Jericho.[2] In 2016, C.F.Wilkins and Whitlock transferred the species to Seringia as S. collina in Australian Systematic Botany.[3] The specific epithet (collina) means "living an hills".[4]

Distribution and habitat

Seringia collina is widespread in Queensland where it grows in sandy clay soils on low hills and plains, and often on roadsides.

Conservation

The species has been listed as "least concern" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Blake . Trevor L. . Lantern Bushes of Australia; Thomasias & Allied Genera . 2021 . A.P.S. Keiler Plains Inc. . Australia . 9780646839301 . 400–401.
  2. Web site: Keraudrenia collina . APNI. 28 December 2023.
  3. Web site: Seringia collina . APNI. 28 December 2023.
  4. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 166 . 3rd.
  5. Web site: Species profile—Seringia collina . Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science . 28 December 2023.