Plants of
South Australia
Callitriche sonderi
Plantaginaceae
Matted Water Starwort
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 5

Etymology

Callitriche from the Greek 'kallos' meaning beautiful and 'thrix' or 'trikhos' meaning hair; referring to the beautiful hairy stems. Sonderi named after Dr. Otto Wilhelm Sonder (1812-1881), a German botanist, pharmacist and editor of Flora Capensis.

Distribution and status

Found in the far north-east, Murray River and the South-east in South Australia, growing on river flood plains or other places subject to periodic inundation. Also found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Rare in South Australia. Very rare in Tasmania. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: Lake Eyre, Murray, South Eastern
NRM regions: South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Mostly terrestrial, mat-forming herb. Leaves linear-obovate, to 5 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, obscurely 3-veined. Upper leaves not rosetted. Flowers usually paired, a male and female together in opposite axils. Bracteoles linear-triangular, to 0.5 mm long, deciduous, stamen to 1 mm long, not elongating as fruit ripens, filament shorter than ripe fruit, styles erect, to 0.3 mm long, persistent. Fruits are dark-brown to greyish fruit, almost cordate in outline, to 0.6 mm long and 0.8 mm wide, keeled and only very weakly winged. Seeds are tiny dark brown to black ovoid seed to 0.6 mm long and 0.4 mm wide, with a wrinkled surface.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between January and December. Collect mature capsules, those that are turning a pale straw colour and contain hard seeds. Can collect individual capsules or break off the whole stems. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for two weeks. Then rub the capsules gently by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
44,000 (1.76 g)
44,000 (1.76 g)
100+3-Sep-2015DJD3179
Lake Eyre
2-May-201790%+5°C, -18°C, -80°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.
Germination table:
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