Marianthus candidus

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, {{cvt|40–70|mm}} long and {{cvt|12–15|mm}} wide on a petiole {{cvt|2–8|mm}} long. The lower surface of the leaves is silky-hairy. The flowers are arranged in groups of ten to thirty on a rachis {{cvt|40–55|mm}} long the peduncle and pedicels less than {{cvt|10|mm}} long. The sepals are egg-shaped, {{cvt|3.5–5.0|mm}} long, and pink and white. The five petals are {{cvt|12–22|mm}} 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.{{cite web |title=Marianthus candidus |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Marianthus%20candidus |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra |access-date=16 June 2023}}{{cite journal |last1=Cayzer |first1=Lindy |last2=Crisp| first2=Mike |title=Reinstatement and revision of the genus Marianthus (Pittosporaceae) |journal=Australian Systematic Botany |date=2004 |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=130 |doi=10.1071/SB03029}}{{cite book |title=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 |date=2002 |publisher=Quality Publishing Australia |location=Western Australia |isbn=1875737243 |page=103 |edition=Revised}}{{cite book |last1=Bentham |first1=George |title=Flora Australiensis |date=1863 |publisher=Lovell Reeve & Co. |location=London |pages=119–120 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/3669#page/177/mode/1up |access-date=16 June 2023}}

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ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus Liber Baro de Hügel from an unpublished descripiption by Charles von Hügel of a plant he collected in the Swan River Colony.{{cite web|title=Marianthus candidus|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/528938|publisher=APNI |access-date=16 June 2023}}{{cite book |last1=Endlicher |first1=Stephan F.L. |editor-last1=Endlicher |editor-first1=Stephan F.L. |editor-last2=Fenzl |editor-first2=Edouard |editor-last3=Bentham |editor-first3=George |editor-last4=Schott |editor-first4=Heinrich W. |title=Enumeratio plantarum quas in Novae Hollandiae ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in Sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus liber baro de Hügel |date=1837 |location=London |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7tcYAAAAYAAJ&dq=Marianthus+candidus+Enumeratio+plantarum+quas+in+Novae+Hollandiae&pg=PA8 |access-date=16 June 2023}} The specific epithet (candidus) means "pure glossy white".{{cite book |author=William T. Stearn |title=Botanical Latin. History, grammar, syntax, terminology and vocabulary |date=1992 |publisher=Timber Press |location=Portland, Oregon |edition=4th|page=381}}

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.{{cite book |last1=Corrick |first1=Margaret |last2=Fuhrer |first2=Bruce |title=Wildflowers of Southern Western Australia |date=2009 |publisher=Rosenberg Publishing |location=Dural, New South Wales |isbn=9781877058844 |page=149 |edition=3rd}}

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

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{{Taxonbar|from=Q17138786}}

Category:Apiales of Australia

candidus

Category:Endemic flora of Western Australia

Category:Plants described in 1837