Marianthus erubescens is a species of flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a woody, glabrous shrub or climber, with narrowly elliptic leaves and down-curved, red flowers arranged groups of three to six.

Marianthus erubescens
In Maranoa Gardens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Pittosporaceae
Genus: Marianthus
Species:
M. erubescens
Binomial name
Marianthus erubescens
Synonyms

Description

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Marianthus erubescens is a glabrous, woody shrub or climber with reddish stems. Its adult leaves are narrowly elliptic, 40–50 mm (1.6–2.0 in) long and 20–22 mm (0.79–0.87 in) wide on a petiole up to 10 mm (0.39 in) long. The flowers are borne in groups of three to six on down-curved peduncles up to 30 mm (1.2 in) long, each flower on a pedicel 12–15 mm (0.47–0.59 in) long. The sepals are 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) long, of unequal sizes, and fall off as the flowers mature. The five petals are red and joined to form a curved tube 15–26 mm (0.59–1.02 in) long. Flowering occurs from August to December and the fruit is a spindle-shaped capsule 10–12 mm (0.39–0.47 in) long.[2][3][4][5]

Taxonomy

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Marianthus erubescens was formally described in 1839 by Alois (Aloys) Putterlick in Novarum Stirpium Decades of specimens collected by John Septimus Roe in the Swan River Colony.[6][7] The specific epithet (erubescens) means "reddening" or "blushing".[8]

Distribution and habitat

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This species of marianthus grows in woodland, shrubland or mallee, on sandplains and breakaways, on granite outcrops or limestone between Morawa, Merredin, the Stirling Ranges and Cape Naturaliste in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren bioregions of south-western Western Australia.[2][3][4]

References

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  1. ^ "Marianthus erubescens". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Marianthus erubescens". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. ^ a b "Marianthus erubescens". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b Corrick, Margaret G.; Fuhrer, Bruce A. (2009). Wildflowers of Southern Western Australia. Dural, New South Wales: Rosenberg Publishing Pty. Ltd. p. 149. ISBN 9781877058844.
  5. ^ "Marianthus erubescens". Australian Native Plants Society (Australia). Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  6. ^ "Marianthus erubescens". APNI. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  7. ^ Putterlick, Alois (1839). Endlicher, Stephan; Fenzl, Edouard (eds.). Novarum Stirpium Decades. pp. 60–61. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  8. ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 193. ISBN 9780958034180.