Seringia hookeriana explained

Seringia hookeriana is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family and is endemic to Queenland. It is a compact suckering shrub with rusty-hairy new growth, oblong leaves and deep purple flowers arranged in groups of 2 to 4.

Description

Seringia hookeriana is a compact, suckering shrub that typically grows to a height of and wide, its new growth densely covered with rust-coloured hairs. The leaves are oblong to lance-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long with narrow stipules up to long at the base. The flowers are arranged in groups of 2 to 4 flowers on a linear peduncle long, each flower on in diameter on a pedicel long. The flowers are deep purple, with broadly-lobed sepals tapering to a sharp point. The petals are absent or tiny, and the anthers are held on yellow filaments alternating with the staminodes. Flowering occurs in most months, and the fruit is a bristly capsule up to in diameter.[1]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1851 by Wilhelm Gerhard Walpers who gave it the name Keraudrenia hookeriana in his Annales Botanices Systematicae.[2] [3] In 1860, Ferdinand von Mueller transferred the species to Seringia as S. hookeriana in his Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae.[4] [5] The specific epithet (hookeriana) honours Joseph Dalton Hooker.

Distribution and habitat

This species grows as an understorey shrub in rocky hills and ranges in central Queensland, from near Ingham to Gungal in New South Wales.

Conservation status

Seringia hookeriana is listed as of "least concern" in Queensland by the Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Blake . Trevor L. . Lantern Bushes of Australia; Thomasias & Allied Genera . 2021 . A.P.S. Keiler Plains Inc. . Australia . 9780646839301 . 412–413.
  2. Web site: Keraudrenia hookeriana. APNI. 19 January 2024.
  3. Book: Walpers . Wilhelm G. . Annales botanices systematicae . 1851 . Sumtibus F. Hofmeister . Leipzig . 164 . 19 January 2024.
  4. Web site: Seringia hookeriana. APNI. 19 January 2024.
  5. Book: von Mueller . Ferdinand . Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae . 1860 . Victorian Government Printer . Melbourne . 5 . 19 January 2024.
  6. Web site: Seringia hookeriana . Department of Environment and Science . 19 January 2024.