Commersonia prostrata
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
| name =
| genus = Commersonia
| species = prostrata
| status_system = EPBC
| status = EN
| image = Commersonia prostrata.jpg
| image_caption = In the Australian National Botanic Gardens
| authority = (Maiden & Betche) C.F.Wilkins & Whitlock{{cite web|title=Commersonia prostrata|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/230729|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=22 March 2023}}
| synonyms = Rulingia prostrata Maiden & Betche
}}
File:Commersonia prostrata fruit capsule.jpg
Commersonia prostrata, commonly known as dwarf kerrawang,{{cite web |last1=Conn |first1=Barry J. |last2=Mccune |first2=Seanna F. |title=Comersonia prostrata |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Commersonia~prostrata |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=22 March 2023}} is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and endemic to eastern continental Australia. It is a prostrate shrub with trailing branches, egg-shaped leaves, the lower surface densely covered with star-like hairs, white, petal-like sepals, and smaller, pinkish petals.
Description
Commersonia prostrata is a prostrate shrub that has branches up to {{cvt|1|m}} or more long, and forms dense mats up to {{cvt|10|cm}} high. The leaves are egg-shaped to heart-shaped, {{cvt|2-35|mm}} long and {{cvt|1–32|mm}} wide on a petiole {{cvt|3–45|mm}} long, with egg-shaped stipules {{cvt|1–7|mm}} long at the base. The edges of the leaves have irregular, rounded teeth, the upper surface of the leaves is glabrous and the lower surface densely covered with star-shaped hairs. The flowers are arranged opposite leaf axils, usually in groups of 3 to 12, the groups on a peduncle {{cvt|4–10|mm}} long, each flower on a pedicel {{cvt|2–5|mm}} long. The flowers are up to {{cvt|6|mm}} in diameter and have five white, petal-like sepals {{cvt|2.5–3.5|mm}} long and {{cvt|1.0–1.5|mm}} wide, and five pink and cream-coloured petals with a narrow ligule about half as long as the sepals. There is a white, densely hairy staminode between each pair of stamens. Flowering occurs from September to November and the fruit is a bristly capsule {{cvt|6–10|mm}} in diameter.{{cite web |last1=Short |first1=Philip S. |last2=Messina |first2=Andre |title=Commersonia prostrata |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/4d7392dc-c93e-4bfb-a439-abe2dce5345c |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |access-date=22 March 2023}}{{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=196–197}}
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1898 by Joseph Maiden and Ernst Betche who gave it the name Rulingia prostrata in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales from specimens Maiden collected near Barbers Creek, between Moss Vale and Goulburn in the same year.{{cite web|title=Rulingia prostrata|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/532584|publisher=APNI|accessdate=22 March 2023}}{{cite journal |last1=Maiden |first1=Joseph |last2=Betche |first2=Ernst |title=Descriptions of four new species of New South Wales plants. |journal=Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales |date=1898 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=18–19 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21753#page/30/mode/1up |access-date=22 March 2023}} In 2011, Carolyn Wilkins and Barbara Whitlock transferred the species to the genus Commersonia as C. prostrata in the journal Australian Systematic Botany.{{cite web|title=Commersonia prostrata|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/726840 |publisher=APNI|access-date=22 March 2023}} The specific epithet (prostrata) means "lying along the ground".{{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=284 |edition=3rd}}
Distribution and habitat
Dwarf kerrawang grows in open woodland and near the edge of forest and is known from populations on the Southern Highlands and Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, the largest population in the Thirlmere Lakes area, and in a few near-coastal areas of south-eastern Victoria.
Conservation status
Commersonia prostrata is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and the Victorian Government Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.{{cite web |title=Dwarf Kerrawang |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10736 |publisher=New South Wales Government Office of Environment and Heritage |access-date=23 March 2023}}{{cite web |title=SPRAT Profile Commersonia prostrata — Dwarf Kerrawang |url=https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=87152 |publisher=Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water |access-date=23 March 2023}}
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Flora of New South Wales
Category:Flora of Victoria (state)
Category:Plants described in 1898