Poranthera microphylla
{{Short description|Species of herb}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Small poranthera
|image = Poranthera microphylla BalukWillam100106-0679hi.jpg
|image_caption = Growing in Baluk Willam Nature Conservation Reserve, Belgrave South, Victoria.
|genus= Poranthera
|species = microphylla
|authority = Brongn.{{cite web |title=Poranthera microphylla |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/99339 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=28 March 2023}}
}}
Poranthera microphylla, commonly known as small poranthera,{{cite book |last1=Cosgrove |first1=Meredith |title=Photographic Guide to Native Plants of the Australian Capital Territory |date=2014 |publisher=Meadow Argus |isbn=9780994183408 |page=280}} is a flowering plant in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is a small, widespread Australian herb with blue-grey leaves and white flowers.
Description
Poranthera microphylla is a decumbent or more or less upright, slender, densely branched, annual herb up to {{cvt|30|cm}} high. It has soft, smooth branches, egg to spoon-shaped blue-grey leaves, thin, usually {{cvt|4-15|mm}} long, {{cvt|8-15|cm}} wide, margins more or less flat or slightly recurved, petiole {{cvt|2-5|mm}} long, apex blunt or rounded and mostly with a short, triangular point. The flowers are in a corymb about {{cvt|0.3-0.8|cm}} across, petals white or pink, bracts narrowly egg-shaped, up to about {{cvt|4|mm}} long and on a pedicels to {{cvt|1.5|mm}}. Flowering occurs mostly from September to April and the fruit is a 3-lobed capsule {{cvt|1.5-2|cm}} in diameter, white and warty.{{cite web |last1=James |first1=T.A |last2=Harden |first2=G.J |title=Poranthera microphylla |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Poranthera~microphylla |website=PlantNET-NSW flora online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney |access-date=29 March 2023}}
Taxonomy and naming
Poranthera microphylla was first formally described in 1833 by Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart and the description was published in Annales des Sciences Naturelles.{{cite book |last1=Brongniart |first1=Adolphe-Théodore |title=Annales des Sciences Naturelles |date=1833 |location=Paris |page=385 |edition=29 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6044727#page/391/mode/1up}} The specific epithet (microphylla) means "small leaved".{{cite book |last1=George |first1=A.S |last2=Sharr |first2=F.A |title=Western Australian Plant Names and their meanings |date=2021 |publisher=Four Gables |location=Kardinya |isbn=9780958034197 |page=260 |edition=4th}}
Distribution and habitat
Small poranthera is a widespread species and grows in dry, montane forest, woodland and grassland in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.
References
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{{Taxonbar|from=Q7229946}}