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
Display IBRA region text
| Northern Flinders (FLB05) | Flinders Lofty Block | Endangered (IUCN: EN D) [clonal spp; very limited habitat, in mound springs] |
| Murnpeowie (STP03) | Stony Plains | Vulnerable (IUCN: VU D2) [clonal spp; very limited habitat, in mound springs] |
Etymology
Eriocaulon from the Greek 'erion' meaning wool and 'kaulos' meaning stem; alluding to the scapes of some species. Carsonii named after Duncan Carson (1860-1931), a woolbroker and pastoralist.
Distribution and status
Found around hot-springs in the Lake Eyre region in South Australia. Also found in Queensland and New South Wales. Native. Very rare in South Australia. Very rare in the other states.
Herbarium region: Lake Eyre
NRM region: South Australian Arid Lands
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Small mat forming succulent herb to 6 cm tall. Leaf blade with obvious square air sack. Flowers single round ball on a long stalk appearing in winter and spring. Fruits are round fruit heads less than 1cm long, usually turning brown as it matures. Seeds are very small yellow to orange ovoid seeds to 0.8 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, smooth and shiny. Seed embryo type is broad.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between May and October. Carefully pick the browning fruit heads by hand. These will have mature seeds which are hard and yellow-orange. Place the fruit heads in a tray and leave to dry for a week. Then gently rub the heads by hand. Use a fine sieve to separate the unwanted material. Be carefully which part you discard as the seeds are very small and will probably fall through your sieve. 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 three collections, the seed viability were high, ranging from 95% to100%.
| Location | No. of seeds
(weight grams) | Number
of plants | Date
collected | Collection number
Collection location | Date
stored | % Viability | Storage
temperature | BGA
MSB | 2,000 (0.21 g)
1,800 (0.19 g) | 200+ | 1-Oct-2007 | DJD896
Lake Eyre | 19-Sep-2008 | 95% | +5°C, -18°C |
| BGA | 1,300 (0.16 g) | | 29-Sep-2008 | TST535
Flinders Ranges | 20-Jul-2009 | 100% | -18°C |
| BGA | 310 (0.031 g) | 100+ | 3-May-2011 | DCB22
Lake Eyre | 1-Jan-2012 | | -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:
Display
| Date | Result | T0 | T50 | Pre-treatment | Germination medium | Incubator: Photoperiod / Thermoperiod |
| May-09 | 24% | 28 | NA |
2% calcium hypochlorite solution 30 min
1% agar;
Incubated under spring/autumn conditions |
| May-09 | 8% | 28 | NA |
1% agar with 100 mg/L potassium nitrate;
Incubated under spring/autumn conditions |
| Jun-08 | 6% | 31 | NA |
filter paper over moist sand;
Incubated under spring/autumn conditions |
| May-09 | 0% | NA | NA |
1% agar with 250 mg/L gibberellic acid (pH 6.5);
Incubated under spring/autumn conditions |
Result: Maximum percentage of germination observed.
T0: Number of days before first germinant observed.
T50: Number of days to achieve 50% germination.
Pre-treatment: The initial treatment that the seeds received prior to placement on germination media.
Germination medium: The substrate that seeds were placed on for the duration of the germination experiment.
Incubator conditions:
Photoperiod: The duration of light exposure that the seeds were subject to during a 24 hour period.
Thermoperiod: The constant or diurnal temperatures that seeds were subject to during a 24 hour period.
Winter conditions: 15°C 20 h (3am→11pm); 5°C 4 h (11pm→3am) / 10 h light (8am→6pm); 14 h dark (6pm→8am)
Spring/Autumn conditions: 22°C 12 h (8am→8pm); 10°C 12 h (8pm→8am) / 12 h light (8am→8pm); 12 h dark (8pm→8am)
Summer conditions: 30°C 14 h (6am→8pm); 15°C 10 h (8pm→6am) / 14 h light (6am→8pm); 10 h dark (8pm→6am)
