Plants of
South Australia
Maireana appressa
Amaranthaceae
Grey Bluebush,
Pale-fruit Bluebush
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
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Keith
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 7

Prior names

Kochia tomentosa var. appressa

Kochia tomentosa

Kochia appressa

Common names

Grey Bluebush

Pale-fruit Bluebush

Etymology

'Maireana', after the 19th century French botanist, Adolphe Lemaire and Latin 'appressus', closely pressed (against the stem).

Distribution and status

Found on sandy, saline or calcareous soils over most of mainland South Australia except for the Yorke and Fleurieu Peninsulas and the South East Region. Recorded in every mainland State. Native, common in South Australia and New South Wales.
Herbarium regions: North Western, Lake Eyre, Nullarbor, Gairdner-Torrens, Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Intricately branched shrub 10-60 cm high; loosely white-woolly all over. Leaves linear to narrow-oblong, to 10 mm long; densely hairy. Flowers solitary, bisexual, glabrous. Flowering March - October. Fruits are fruiting perianth straw-coloured when dry; glabrous to sparsely hairy; tube with a short, hollow stipe-like base; horizontal wing, 10 mm in diameter, with a radial slit Seeds are seed circular, convex brown seed Seed embryo type is peripheral

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between March and October. Collect dry, papery fruits. Check that they contain well-developed seeds before making a collection. Shake or strip fruits into a vessel. Remove twigs and other plant material. May be low, average viability from 2 collections approx. 30% Germination partially inhibited by the fruit coat (perianth). High levels of germination recorded when fruit was removed.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)		Number
of plants		Date
collected		Collection number
Collection location		Date
stored		% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA21,000 (53.44 g)3021-May-2007RJB72043
Eyre Peninsula		19-Sep-200810%-18°C
BGA4,950 (36.2 g)12-Oct-2012DJD2402
Murray		27-Feb-201447%-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.
Germination table:
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We acknowledge the contributions of the South Australian Seed Conservation Centre, the Botanic Gardens of South Australia, and the Department for Environment and Water.