Plants of
South Australia
Stenopetalum nutans
Brassicaceae
Stinking Thread-petal,
Nodding Thread-petal
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
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Wudinna
Keith
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock painting: 1

Common names

Stinking Thread-petal

Nodding Thread-petal

Etymology

Stenopetalum from the Greek 'stenos' meaning narrow and 'petalon' meaning petals; referring to the narrow petals. Nutans from the Latin 'nuto' meaning nodding; alluding to the nutant fruit pods.

Distribution and status

Found scattered in the northern part of South Australia, growing in sandy soils. Also found in Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland and New South wales. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: North Western, Lake Eyre, Eyre Peninsula
NRM regions: Alinytjara Wilurara, Eyre Peninsula, South Australian Arid Lands
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Annual or biennial herbs, decumbent to erect, to 50 cm tall, sparsely hairy. Leaves entire or remotely dentate to pinnatifid, to 9 cm long, reducing above. Inflorescence a terminal spike with yellow-green or brown flowers, petals with the apex long, slender and often twisted. Flowering between July and September. Fruits are brown obovoid pod to 13 mm long, sometimes slightly compressed, hanging downward. Seeds are orange flat reinform seed to 1.5 mm long and 1.2 mm wide. Seed embryo type is bent.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between September and November. Collect maturing pods those turning pale brown with orange seeds inside. Be gentle with the pods as they split open easily. Place the pods in a tray and cover with paper to prevent seeds from popping out and leave to dry for a week. Then rub the dried pods 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. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 100%.

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
11,000 (7.07 g)
11,000 (7.07 g)
6026-Oct-2004MOL4633
Gairdner-Torrens
28-Mar-2006100%-18°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.