Lobelia purpurascens
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = White root
| image = Pratia purpurascens cropped.jpg
| image_caption = Cultivated specimen of Lobelia purpurascens
| genus = Lobelia
| species = purpurascens
| authority = R.Br.{{cite web|title=Lobelia purpurascens|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/107164|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=7 January 2021}}
| synonyms =
- Lobelia ilicifolia Sims
- Pratia puberula f. arguta E.Wimm.
- Pratia purpurascens (R.Br.) E.Wimm.
- Rapuntium purpurascens (R.Br.) C.Presl
}}
Lobelia purpurascens, commonly known as white root{{cite web |last1=Wiecek |first1=Barbara |title=Lobelia purpurascens |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Lobelia~purpurascens |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=7 January 2021}} or purplish pratia,{{cite web |last1=Stajsic |first1=Val |title=Lobelia purpurascens |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/e39429dc-cbce-48a9-9a98-04d685967910 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |access-date=7 January 2021}} is a flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae of eastern Australia. It is a small herbaceous, scrambling plant with white to pale pink flowers.
Description
Lobelia purpurascens is a small, smooth herb usually less than {{cvt|12|cm}} high with ascending or more or less prostrate stems, usually {{cvt|30|cm}} long with white rhizomes. The leaves are arranged alternately, more or less sessile, elliptic to oval shaped, {{cvt|10-25|mm}} long and {{cvt|5-10|mm}} wide, margins toothed and the undersurface usually purplish coloured on a petiole up to {{cvt|2|mm}} long. The single flowers are borne in leaf axils on a pedicel {{cvt|1-7|cm}} long, corolla pale mauve-pink, bluish or white, {{cvt|8-10|mm}} long, lower petals oblong-rounded, upper petals upright, tapering to a point, curved inward and smaller than upper petals. Flowering occurs from November to May and the fruit {{cvt|3-10|mm}} long, {{cvt|3-6|mm}} wide and smooth.{{cite book |last1=Fairley |first1=Alan |last2=Moore |first2=Philip |title=Native Plants of the Sydney Region |date=2010 |publisher=Jacana Books |location=Crows Nest |isbn=9781741755718 |page=431 |edition=3}}
Taxonomy and naming
Lobelia purpurascens was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis 1802-1805.{{cite web |title=Lobelia purpurascens |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/537455 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=22 August 2021}}{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Robert |title=Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis 1802-1805 |date=1810 |location=London |page=563 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/29583#page/431/mode/1up}} The specific epithet (purpurascens) means "purplish".{{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=287 |edition=3rd}}
Distribution and habitat
References
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{{Taxonbar|from1=Q15601626|from2=Q7238677}}
Category:Flora of Victoria (state)