Scaevola spicigera

Scaevola spicigera
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Goodeniaceae
Genus: Scaevola
Species:
S. spicigera
Binomial name
Scaevola spicigera

Scaevola spicigera is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae. It is a small, spreading shrub with white flowers and is endemic to Western Australia.

Description

Scaevola spicigera is a spreading shrub to 50 cm (20 in) high and more or less hairy. The leaves narrowly oblong to elliptic to oblanceolate, usually more hairy on the lower surface, margins smooth, apex pointed, and gradually narrowing toward the base with a noticeable tuft of soft hairs. The bracteoles lance-shaped, 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long and up to 2 mm (0.079 in) wide. The white flowers are arranged in spike-like clusters up to 20 cm (7.9 in) long in leaf axils, corolla, 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long with more or less simple, soft, flattened hairs on the outside and short, soft hairs on the inside. The lobes are oblong-elliptic shaped, about 2.5 mm (0.098 in) long, about 0.5 mm (0.020 in) wide, wings less than 0.5 mm (0.020 in) long. Flowering occurs from June to February and the fruit is cylinder-shaped, 3 mm (0.12 in) long, wrinkled, covered in short, soft hairs, ribbed and mostly one-seeded.[2][3]

Taxonomy and taxonomy

Scaevola spicigera was first formally described in 1990 by Roger Charles Carolin and the description was published in Telopea.[2][4] The specific epithet (spicigera) means "flower spike".[5]

Distribution and habitat

This scaevola grows on red sandy soils in grassland between Learmonth and Lake MacLeod.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ "Scaevola spicigera". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Carolin, Roger (1990). "Scaevola spicigera". Telopea. 3 (4): 502. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  3. ^ a b Carolin, Roger. "Scaevola spicigera". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Scaevola spicigera". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  5. ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 311. ISBN 9780958034180.