Plants of
South Australia
Poranthera microphylla
Phyllanthaceae
Small-leaf Poranthera,
Small Poranthera
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
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Vulnerable
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
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Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 6

Prior names

Poranthera microphylla var. diffusa

Common names

Small-leaf Poranthera

Small Poranthera

Etymology

Poranthera from the Greek 'porus' meaning opening or pore and 'anthera' meaning anther; referring to the terminal pores of the anther cells. Microphylla from the Greek 'micros' meaning small and 'phyllon' meaning leaf.

Distribution and status

Found in the southern part of South Australia, growing in a wide variety of habitats including, woodland, scrublands and along creeks, clearings or firebreaks. Also found in all states and New Zealand. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Suberect or ascending annual herb to 15 cm high, glabrous and somewhat bluish-green. Leaves alternating along the stems to opposite each other, spathulate to obovate, to 12 mm long and 4 mm wide, tips blunt, usually with a short point, glabrous. Inflorescence in short dense clusters at the tops of the stems with white or pink flowers. Flowering between September to April. Fruits are creamy depressed globular capsule to 2.5 mm diameter with 3 lobed and 6 seeds. Seeds are pale yellow sectoroid seed to 0.6 mm long and 0.4 mm wide, covered in white tuberculate. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between November and June. Collect individual mature capsules, those that are drying off, fat and contain dark hard seeds or pull out the whole plant (annual) to allow capsules to continue to mature. 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:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
 
MSB

2,300 (0.449 g)
3021-Nov-2006TST105
Southern Lofty
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.