Plants of
South Australia
Phyllangium divergens
Loganiaceae
Wiry Mitrewort
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
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Rare
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 2

Prior names

Mitrasacme divergens

Mitrasacme paradoxa, partly

Etymology

Phylangium from the Greek 'phyllon' meaning a leaf and 'angion' meaning a vessel, referring to the foliate involucre surrounding the flowers. Divergens from Latin meaning divergent or spreading, referring to its diverging flower stalks (pedicels).

Distribution and status

Found in the southern part of South Australia, growing in open habitats on periodically wet sandy and clayey soils in saline claypans & salt lakes, granite outcrops, rock ledges. Also found in Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Common in South Australia. Rare in Tasmania. Common in Western Australia.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Annual erect herb to 19 cm high, with weak, terete and glabrous branches. Leaves elliptic to obovate, to 10 mm long and 3 mm wide; margin flat, apex acute. Inflorescence few-flowered umbel in upper axils, with small white bell-shaped flowers on long pedicels to 50 mm long. Flowering between September and November. Fruits are pale brown capsule to 4 mm long. Seeds are dark brown to black ovoid seed to 0.5 mm long and 0.4 mm wide, with a reticulate surface. Seed embryo type is linear under-developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between October and November. Collect maturing capsules, those that are fat, turning a straw colour and contain hard brown to black seeds or collect whole stems with many maturing capsules. Place the capsules/stems in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then rub the capsules/stems gently by hand or with a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Be very careful as the seeds are very small. 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.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
 
MSB

13,100 (0.21 g)
5030-Oct-2007RJB75545
South Eastern
90%
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.