Marianthus candidus

Marianthus candidus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Pittosporaceae
Genus: Marianthus
Species:
M. candidus
Binomial name
Marianthus candidus
Synonyms[1]

Billardiera candida (Hügel ex Endl.) E.M.Benn.

Marianthus candidus, commonly known as white marianthus,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a twining shrub or climber with elliptic leaves and white flowers arranged in groups of twenty to thirty and becoming fawn or pink as they age.

Description

Marianthus candidus is a twining shrub or climber with warty stems that are silky-hairy at first, but become glabrous as they age. Its adult leaves are elliptic, 40–70 mm (1.6–2.8 in) long and 12–15 mm (0.47–0.59 in) wide on a petiole 2–8 mm (0.079–0.315 in) long. The lower surface of the leaves is silky-hairy. The flowers are arranged in groups of ten to thirty on a rachis 40–55 mm (1.6–2.2 in) long the peduncle and pedicels less than 10 mm (0.39 in) long. The sepals are egg-shaped, 3.5–5.0 mm (0.14–0.20 in) long, and pink and white. The five petals are 12–22 mm (0.47–0.87 in) long, white, fading to fawn or pink and joined at the base to form a short tube with spatula-shaped, spreading lobes. Flowering mainly occurs in October and November.[2][3][4][5][6]

Taxonomy

Marianthus candidus was first formally described in 1837 by Stephan Endlicher in Enumeratio plantarum quas in Novae Hollandiae ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus Liber Baro de Hügel from an unpublished descripiption by Charles von Hügel of a plant he collected in the Swan River Colony.[7][8] The specific epithet (candidus) means "pure glossy white".[9]

Distribution and habitat

White marianthus grows in coastal heath, on limestone plains and granite outcrops, near streams or in forest south from Perth to Cape Leeuwin and Manjimup in the Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren bioregions of south-western Western Australia.[2][3][5][10]

Conservation status

Marianthus candidus is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Marianthus cndidus". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "Marianthus candidus". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. ^ a b "Marianthus candidus". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  4. ^ Cayzer, Lindy; Crisp, Mike (2004). "Reinstatement and revision of the genus Marianthus (Pittosporaceae)". Australian Systematic Botany. 17 (1): 130. doi:10.1071/SB03029.
  5. ^ a b Field guide, wildflowers of the west coast hills: the plants and flowers of the Darling Scarp and Range in the Kalamunda Shire the backdrop to Perth, Western Australia (Revised ed.). Western Australia: Quality Publishing Australia. 2002. p. 103. ISBN 1875737243.
  6. ^ Bentham, George (1863). Flora Australiensis. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. pp. 119–120. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  7. ^ "Marianthus candidus". APNI. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  8. ^ Endlicher, Stephan F.L. (1837). Endlicher, Stephan F.L.; Fenzl, Edouard; Bentham, George; Schott, Heinrich W. (eds.). Enumeratio plantarum quas in Novae Hollandiae ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in Sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus liber baro de Hügel. London. p. 8. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  9. ^ William T. Stearn (1992). Botanical Latin. History, grammar, syntax, terminology and vocabulary (4th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. p. 381.
  10. ^ Corrick, Margaret; Fuhrer, Bruce (2009). Wildflowers of Southern Western Australia (3rd ed.). Dural, New South Wales: Rosenberg Publishing. p. 149. ISBN 9781877058844.