Botanical art
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.
Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MSB | 13,100 (0.21 g) | 50 | 30-Oct-2007 | RJB75545 South Eastern | 90% |