Plants of
South Australia
Maireana triptera
Amaranthaceae
Three-wing Bluebush
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
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Prior names

Kochia triptera

Etymology

'Maireana', after the 19th century French botanist, Adolphe Lemaire and 'triptera', three-winged.

Distribution and status

Found in mallee areas growing in heavy slightly saline soil.
Herbarium regions: North Western, Lake Eyre, Gairdner-Torrens, Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, Murray
NRM regions: Alinytjara Wilurara, Eyre Peninsula, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Compact bluish-green shrub to 50 cm high; glabrous except for pubescence in the leaf axils. Leaves alternate, dense, slender and sub-terete, to 10 mm long. Flowers solitary in leaf axils. Flowering May-September. Fruits are fruiting perianth glabrous, drying to dark brown or black, with a turbinate tube and usually 5 vertical wings, running the length of the tube, alternate to the perianth segments and fusing with the horizontal wing; horizontal wing 8 mm wide, without a radial slit. Seeds are seeds are brown and disc-shaped, up to 1.5 mm diameter with overlapping embryo tip forming a small beak. Seed embryo type is peripheral

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds when fruits are brown and papery. Check inside several fruits for the presence of well developed seed before making a collection. Strip or shake fruiting branches into a container. Remove twigs and other plant material.

Germination table:
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