Wurmbea australis

Colchicaceae

Inland Star-lily,

Inland Nancy

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plant: Wurmbea australis Mt Centre plant with fruit

plant: Wurmbea australis flower Battery Track 06

plant: Wurmbea australis Mt Centre plant habit 4

plant: Wurmbea australis flower Battery Track 5

plant: Wurmbea australis plant Paney Station

plant: Wurmbea australis popn Mt Centre plants

flower: Wurmbea australis flower Battery Track 4

flower: Wurmbea australis flower Battery Track 03

flower: Wurmbea australis flower Battery Track 1

flower: Wurmbea australis flower Battery Track 7

flower: Wurmbea australis flower Battery Track 08

flower: Wurmbea australis, BSOP-623, bare hills 0.6 km NW from W end of Warren Gorge, FR, 15 Jul 2003,, by P.J.Lang, CC BY-NC 4.0, edit crop 1.5

fruit: Wurmbea australis fruits Paney Station

fruit: Wurmbea australis frt Denzel Murfet Mt Remarkable NP

fruit: Wurmbea australis fr Denzel Murfet Mt Remarkable NP 01

fruit: Wurmbea australis fruit Denzel Murfet Mt Remarkable NP

fruit: Wurmbea australis fruits Denzel Murfet Mt Remarkable NP

dissected seed: Wurmbea australis DJD1597 Longitudinal section (2)

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

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Botanical art

Kath Alcock painting: 1

Prior names

Anguillaria dioica, partly

Wurmbea centralis ssp. australis

Common names

Inland Star-lily

Inland Nancy

Etymology

Wurmbea name after Friedrick Wilhelm von Wurmb, merchant and botanist in 18th century Batavia (Jakarta). Australis means of or from the south; referring to the more southern distribution of the species.

Distribution and status

Endemic to South Australia and found in the central part of the state, growing among rock outcrops . Native. Common in South Australia.
Herbarium regions: Lake Eyre, Gairdner-Torrens, Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, South Australian Arid Lands
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Robust decumbent herb to 20 cm tall. Leaves 3 to 10 cm long and 24 mm wide, broad, leathery and easily recognisable even when not in flower. Inflorescence spike with 1-5 large bright pink flowers. Flowering between May and August. Fruits are pale brown box-like capsule to 25 mm long. Largest of any Australian Wurmbea. Seeds are orange brown globular seed to 2 mm diameter. Seed embryo type is linear under-developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between August and October. Collect mature capsules, those turning pale straw colour and containing hard brown seeds. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for two weeks. Then rub the capsules gently by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve 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. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 100%.

Seeds stored:

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Location	No. of seeds (weight grams)	Number of plants	Date collected	Collection number Collection location	Date stored	% Viability	Storage temperature
BGA MSB	2,600 (12.8 g) 2,600 (12.8 g)	100+	8-Sep-2006	DJD564 Flinders Ranges	1-Aug-2007	90%	-18°C
BGA	6,100 (24.01 g)	100+	20-Sep-2009	DJD1597 Eyre Peninsula	1-Jun-2010	100%	-18°C
BGA	1,030 (1.49 g)	50+	28-Nov-2016	Aligator Gorge Flinders Ranges	1-Nov-2017	100%	-18°C
BGA	850 (0.83 g)	100	1-Oct-2019	JRG721 Flinders Ranges	24-Jun-2020	100%	-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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Date	Result	T0	T50	Pre-treatment \| Germination medium \| Incubator: Photoperiod / Thermoperiod
Jun-17	83%	35	63	1% agar; Incubated under winter conditions
Jun-17	0%	NA	NA	1% agar; 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)

Southern Flinders (FLB04)	Flinders Lofty Block	Least Concern [Changed to W. australis. On granite hills]
Northern Flinders (FLB05)		Rare (IUCN: RA d(ii))
Central Flinders (FLB06)		Least Concern
Gawler Volcanics (GAW02)	Gawler	Least Concern [now W australis]
Gawler Lakes (GAW03)		Rare (IUCN: RA d(ii)) [no records, now W australis]
Arcoona Plateau (GAW04)		Rare (IUCN: RA d(ii)) [no records, now W australis]
Torrens (GAW06)		Rare (IUCN: RA d(ii))
Bimbowrie (BHC05)	Broken Hill Complex	Least Concern [No records-check with Bob Bates. Changed to W. australis. On granite hills]