Commersonia corniculata

Commersonia corniculata is an erect to prostrate shrub that typically grows to {{cvt|0.3–2|m}} high and {{cvt|0.4–2|m}} wide and its new growth densely covered with white, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped, {{cvt|8–20|mm}} long and {{cvt|4–16|mm}} wide on a petiole {{cvt|1–5|mm}} long with stipules {{cvt|1–6|mm}} long at the base. The edges of the leaves have 3 lobes and sometimes a heart-shaped base and are rolled under, the lower surface densely covered with star-shaped hairs. The flowers are arranged in clusters of 5 to 15 up to {{cvt|30|mm}} long on a peduncle {{cvt|4–14|mm}} long, each flower {{cvt|5–12|mm}} in diameter on a pedicel {{cvt|1–6|mm}} long. The flowers have five white to cream-coloured, petal-like sepals, five white petals with a linear ligule about the same length as the sepals, and a single white staminode between each pair of stamens. Flowering occurs from August to December and the fruit is a spherical capsule {{cvt|12–15|mm}} in diameter.{{cite book |last1=Blake |first1=Trevor L. |title=Lantern bushes of Australia ; Thomasias & allied genera : a field and horticultural guide |date=2021 |publisher=Australian Plants Society, Keilor Plains Group |location=Victoria |isbn=9780646839301 |pages=172–173}}

Commersonia corniculata was first formally described as Lasiopetalum corniculatum in 1822 by the English botanist James Edward Smith, from material gathered at King George Sound by Archibald Menzies.{{APNI2|name=Commersonia corniculata|id=50593568}}{{cite journal|author=Smith, J.E |editor= Rees, A.|date=1822|title=Lasiopetalum|journal= The Cyclopaedia |volume=20|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/38748478}} In 2018, Kelly Anne Shepherd and Carolyn Wilkins examined the material and determined that it matched the later described species, Commersonia cygnorum (described by Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel in 1845).{{cite journal|author=Steudel, E.G. von |editor= Lehmann, J.G.C.|date=1845|title= Buttneriaceae|journal= Plantae Preissianae|volume= 1|issue=2|page= 237|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/498410}} Since Lasiopetalum corniculatum is the first legitimate description of the plant, the name needed to be changed to Commersonia corniculata.{{cite journal |author1=Shepherd, Kelly Anne |author-link1=Kelly Anne Shepherd|author2=Wilkins, Carolyn F. |author-link2=Carolyn F. Wilkins|title=Commersonia corniculata (Malvaceae), a new name for C. cygnorum. |journal=Nuytsia |date=2018 |volume=29 |pages=67–68 |url=https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/science/nuytsia/889.pdf |access-date=17 March 2023}}

The specific epithet (corniculata) means "corniculate", referring to the tips of the petals.{{cite book |last1=Sharr |first1=Francis Aubi |last2=George |first2=Alex |title=Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, WA |isbn=9780958034180 |page=170 |edition=3rd}}

This species grows in woodland, heath and between granite boulders in near coastal areas south of Perth, from Busselton to Walpole-Nornalup National Park and near Esperance in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren bioregions of south-western Western Australia.{{FloraBase|id=48634|name=Commersonia corniculata}}

Commersonia corniculata is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

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{{commons category|Commersonia corniculata}}

• [https://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?taxa=Commersonia+corniculata#tab_mapView Commersonia corniculata occurrence data] from the Australasian Virtual Herbarium

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corniculata

Category:Flora of Western Australia

Category:Plants described in 1822

Category:Taxa named by James Edward Smith