Plants of
South Australia
Ornduffia umbricola var. umbricola
Menyanthaceae
Lax Marsh-flower
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Adelaide
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 3

Prior names

Villarsia parnassifolia, partly

Villarsia umbricola var. umbricola

Etymology

Vallarsia named after Dominique Villars (1745-1814), a French botanist and physician. Umbricola from the Latin 'umbra' meaning shady and 'cola' meaning dwelling; referring to its habit in damp soils or shallow fresh water in semi-shaded and sheltered sites.

Distribution and status

Found on Kangaroo Island, Mount Lofty Ranges and the South-east in South Australia, growing on damp sandy or peaty soil or in shallow fresh water in semi-shaded sites of forest depressions, bogs and creek edges. Also found in Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Rare in South Australia. Rare in the other states.
Herbarium regions: Northern Lofty, Murray, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Non-stoloniferous, slender tufted perennial or annual herb to 105 cm high with aerial leaves (rarely floating). Leaves erect, ovate to almost circular, to 12 cm long, entire, rounded to moderately cordate at the base. Inflorescence a a lax slender panicle occupying much of the flowering stem, with large yellow flowers. This variety differ from the other variety found in South Australia, Vallarsia umbricola var. beaugleholei which have strongly tuberculated seeds. Flowering between November and April. Fruits are pale brown papery capsule to 11 mm long. Seeds are orange ellipsoid seed to 1.4 mm long and 1 mm wide, with a strongly tuberculated surface.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between November and May. Collect mature capsules, those that are turning a pale straw colour and contain hard seeds. Can collect individual capsules or break off the whole fruit spike. 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 three collections, the seed viability were average to high, ranging from 60% to 85%.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA19,000 (4.18 g)3-Dec-2007RJB76052
Southern Lofty
19-Sep-200885%-18°C
BGA40,000 (6.6 g)504-Dec-2007TST250
Southern Lofty
19-Sep-200870%-18°C
BGA 
MSB
1,100 (3.85 g)
1,100 (3.85 g)
304-Dec-2007TST249
Southern Lofty
19-Sep-200860%-18°C
BGA3,200 (0.77 g)517-Jan-2018DJD3734
South Eastern
30-Jun-201875%-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.