Ptilotus
{{Short description|Family of shrubs}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = Ptilotus_rotundifolius.jpg
|image_caption = Ptilotus rotundifolius (F.Muell.) F.Muell.
|taxon = Ptilotus
|authority = R.Br.
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = 125; see List of Ptilotus species
|subdivision_ref = [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1280-1 Ptilotus R.Br.] Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
|synonyms =
- Arthrotrichum {{small|F.Muell. (1863), not validly publ.}}
- Dipteranthemum {{small|F.Muell. (1884)}}
- Gomotriche {{small|Turcz. (1849)}}
- Goniotriche {{small|Turcz. (1852)}}
- Hemisteirus {{small|F.Muell. (1853)}}
- Kelita {{small|A.R.Bean (2010)}}
- Trichinium {{small|R.Br. (1810)}}
}}
Ptilotus is a genus of approximately 125 species of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae, and is endemic to Australia, apart from Ptilotus conicus{{cite web |title=Ptilotus conicus |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:61227-1 |publisher=Plants of the World Online |access-date=10 December 2024}} that also occurs in Malesia. Plants in the genus Ptilotus are annual or perennial herbs or shrubs with usually hairy spikes of compact spherical, oval or cylindrical flowers.
Description
Plants in the genus Ptilotus are annual or perennial herbs or small shrubs, many covered with soft hairs. The leaves are arranged alternately, sometimes on branches and/or in a rosette at the base. The flowers are bisexual and borne in compact spherical to oval or cylindrical spikes, each flower with a membranous bract and two bracteoles at the base. There are five, equal, hairy, linear tepals and five stamens, sometimes up to three stamens reduced to sterile staminodes, fused into a cap surrounding the ovary. The fruit is a nut or utricle, surrounded by the remains of the perianth.{{cite web |last1=Walsh |first1=Neville G. |last2=Stajsic |first2=Val |title=Ptilotus |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/15df3148-f61d-4c4b-8b01-7089e915e1b8 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |access-date=11 December 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Jacobs |first1=Surrey W.F.L. |last2=Lapinpuro |first2=L. |title=Ptilotus |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&showsyn=&dist=&constat=&lvl=gn&name=Ptilotus |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney |access-date=11 December 2024}}{{FloraBase|name=Ptilotus|id=21388}}
Taxonomy
The genus Ptilotus was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae.{{cite web|title=Ptilotus |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/489692|publisher=APNI|access-date=10 December 2024}}{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Robert |title=Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van-Diemen |date=1810 |publisher=Typis R. Taylor et socii |location=London |page=415 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21871#page/283/mode/1up |access-date=10 December 2024}} The genus name means 'winged', particularly 'soft winged'.{{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 |pages=107 |edition=3rd}}
In family-level phylogenetic studies, Ptilotus has been placed within a clade informally known as the 'aervoids'.{{Cite journal|last=Müller|first=K.|last2=Borsch|first2=T.|year=2005|title=Phylogenetics of Amaranthaceae based on matK/trnK sequence data: Evidence from parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian analyses|journal=Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard.|volume=92|pages=66–102}} It has been resolved as monophyletic and is closely related to Aerva Forssk.{{Cite journal|last=Hammer|first=Timothy A.|last2=Davis|first2=Robert W.|last3=Thiele|first3=Kevin R.|year=2015|title=A molecular framework phylogeny for Ptilotus (Amaranthaceae): Evidence for the rapid diversification of an arid Australian genus.|journal=Taxon|volume=64|issue=2|pages=272–285|doi=10.12705/642.6}}{{Cite journal|last=Sage|first=R.F.|last2=Sage|first2=T.L.|last3=Pearcy|first3=R.W.|last4=Borsch|first4=T.|year=2007|title=The taxonomic distribution of C4 photosynthesis in Amaranthaceae sensu stricto|journal=Am. J. Bot.|volume=94|issue=12|pages=1992–2003|doi=10.3732/ajb.94.12.1992|pmid=21636394}}
=Species list=
{{Main|List of Ptilotus species}}
Distribution
Most species of Ptilotus occur in arid parts of Western Australia,{{Cite web|url=http://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?taxa=ptilotus|title=Ptilotus occurrence records|website=Australia's Virtual Herbarium|publisher=Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria|access-date=2017-01-21}} but there are species in the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.{{cite web |title=Ptilotus |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/76223 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=11 December 2024}}
Gallery
Image:Ptilotus exaltatus Pilbara.jpg|Ptilotus exaltatus Nees
Image:Ptilotus obovatus bisexual flower.jpg|Ptilotus obovatus (Gaudich.) F.Muell.
Image:Ptilotus eriotrichus.jpg|Ptilotus eriotrichus (Gaudich.) F.Muell.
Image:Ptilotus stirlingii.jpg|Ptilotus stirlingii (Lindl.) F.Muell. subsp. stirlingii
Image:Ptilotus declinatus.jpg|Ptilotus declinatus Nees
Image:Ptilotus fusiformis.jpg|Ptilotus fusiformis (R.Br.) Poir.
Image:Ptilotus nobilis.jpg|Ptilotus nobilis (Lindl.) F.Muell
Image:Ptilotus appendiculatus.jpg|Ptilotus appendiculatus Benl
Image:Ptilotus latifolius.jpg|Ptilotus latifolius R.Br.
Image:Ptilotus drummondii.jpg|Ptilotus drummondii (Moq.) F.Muell.
Image:Ptilotus_macrocephalus2.jpg|Ptilotus xerophilus T.Hammer & R.W.Davis
Image:Ptilotus_rotundifolius2.jpg|Ptilotus rotundifolius (F.Muell.) F.Muell.