Platysace commutata
{{Short description|Species of shrub}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Platysace commutata.jpg
|image_caption = Near Porongurup
|genus = Platysace
|species = commutata
|authority = (Turcz.) C.Norman{{cite web |title=Platysace commutata |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/80803 |website=Australian Plant Census |access-date=14 March 2024}}
|synonyms =
- Siebera commutata (Turcz.) Benth.
- Trachymene commutata Turcz.
}}
Platysace commutata is a shrub that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has linear leaves and white to cream-coloured or blue flowers.
==Description==
Platysace commutata is a heath-like shrub with rod-like branches{{cite book |last1=Bentham |first1=George |title=Flora Australiensis |date=1867 |publisher=Lovell Reeve & Co. |location=London |page=355 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/55517#page/367/mode/1up |access-date=6 March 2024}} that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|10–50|cm}}.{{FloraBase|name=Platysace commutata|id=6248}} Its leaves are linear, sometimes crowded, about {{cvt|4–8.5|mm}} long and often slightly twisted. The flowers are borne in umbels on a peduncle shorter than the end leaves. The 2 or 3 involucral bracts are similar to the stem leaves. Flowering occurs between October and December or from January to April and the fruit is spherical, nearly {{cvt|2|mm}} in diameter.
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1849 by Nikolai Turczaninow who gave it the name Trachymene commutata in the Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou, from specimens collected near the Swan River by James Drummond.{{cite web|title=Trachymene commutata|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/466081|publisher=APNI|access-date=15 March 2024}}{{cite journal |last1=Turczaninow |first1=Nikolai |title=Decas sexta generum plantarum hucusque non descriptorum adjectis descriptionibus specierum nonnullarum. |journal=Bulletin de la Société impériale des naturalistes de Moscou |date=1849 |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=30–31 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/192493#page/36/mode/1up |access-date=15 March 2024}} In 1939, Cecil Norman transferred the species to the genus Platysace as P. commutata in the Journal of Botany, British and Foreign.{{cite web|title=Platysace commutata|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/496919|publisher=APNI|access-date=15 March 2024}} The specific epithet (commutata) means "changed" or "altered", referring to the variable leaf forms.{{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=167 |edition=3rd}}
Distribution and habitat
Often found among quartzite rocks on hilltops and summits, P. commutata is distributed widely but with a scattered population in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest and Mallee bioregions of south-western Western Australia.
Conservation status
Platysace commutata is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q17140597}}
Category:Flora of Western Australia