Plants of
South Australia
Phyllanthus striaticaulis
Phyllanthaceae
Pointed Spurge,
Southern Spurge
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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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Prior names

Phyllanthus australis, partly

Common names

Pointed Spurge

Southern Spurge

Etymology

Phyllanthus from the Greek 'phyllon' meaning a leaf and 'anthos' meaning a flower; referring to some foreign species where the flowers grow on the edges of dilated leaf-like branchlets. Striaticaulis from Latin meaning striatred stem; referring to the noticeable ribbing on the branchlets.

Distribution and status

Endemic to South Australia and found on Kangaroo Island, Fleurieu Peninsula and Yorke Peninsula, growing in dry sclerophyll forest, grassy woodland and in coastal heaths. Native. Rare in South Australia.
Herbarium regions: Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Dioecious shrub to 60 cm tall with prominently ribbed, glabrous to hairy stems. Leaves alternate, in opposite pair, concave, elliptical, lanceolate, obovate to oblanceolate, to 12.5 mm long and 4.2 mm wide, light-green to mid-green, glabrous or hairy. Male inflorescence in axillary clusters with 1-4 white or green flowers. Female inflorescence in axillary clusters with 1-2 yellow-green flowers. Flowering between June and February. Fruits are green depressed-globular capsule to 2.4 mm long and 3.8 mm wide, lobed. Seeds are brown sectoroid seed to 2 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, with deep striation and fine tuberculate surface texture. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between July and February. Collect individually or break off short fruiting stems with fat capsules with hard dark seed. Green capsules can be collected if the seeds are dark and hard. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then gently rub the capsules with a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieves 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
 
MSB

1,100 (1.81 g)
1011-Nov-2009TST872
Yorke Peninsula
100%
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.