Plants of
South Australia
Glischrocaryon flavescens
Haloragaceae
Pale Yellow Pop-flower,
Yellow Pennants,
Rock Pennants
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
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Oodnadatta
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Wudinna
Keith
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock painting: 1

Prior names

Loudonia roei, partly

Loudonia citrina

Loudonia flavescens

Common names

Pale Yellow Pop-flower

Yellow Pennants

Rock Pennants

Etymology

Glischrocaryon from the Greek 'glischros' meaning gluey, clammy, slippery and 'caryon' meaning a nut, referring erroneously to the genus having succulent fruit, when it was thought to belong to the Family Santalaceae, several species of which do have succulent fruits. Flavescens from the Latin 'flavus' meaning yellow and the suffix '-escens' meaning in the process of becoming, referring to its flowers, which are paler than other species.

Distribution and status

Found on the north-eastern Eyre Peninsula, Flinders Ranges and northern Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia growing on sandy or clay, often stony soils in rocky hillsides and plains. Also found in Western Australia. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in Western Australia.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Robust perennial herb to 90 cm high with numerous thick pithy stems to 8 mm diameter. Leaves linear to narrow-lanceolate to 30 mm long and 3 mm wide, tapering gradually to the tip; often deciduous. Inflorescence of terminal clusters with 31 pale yellow to cream flowers. Flowering between August and December. Fruits are cream to reddish-tinged papery ovoid fruit to 6.5 mm long with 3 longitudinal wings.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between October and January. Collect fruit that have developed wings and the seed in the middle is hard. Place the fruit in a tray and leave to dry for a week or two. Seeds can be stored with the wings or you can rub the dried fruit with a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate any 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. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 95%.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
2,400 (19.3 g)
2,400 (19.3 g)
100+28-Nov-2007KHB93
Northern Lofty
19-Sep-200895%-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.