Botanical art
Prior names
Neopaxia australasica
Paxia australasica
Claytonia australasica
Common names
White purslane
Montia
Etymology
Montia named after Guiseppe Monti (1682-1760), an Italian chemist and botanist, Professor of Botany and Director of the Bologna botanic garden. Australasica means of or from Australasia; referring to the species distribution.
Distribution and status
Found on Kangaroo Island, Mount Lofty Ranges, along the lower Murray River and the lower South-east in South Australia, in moist areas along stream margins and wetlands. Also found in Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and New Zealand. Native. Uncommon in South Australia. Rare in Western Australia. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: Northern Lofty, Murray, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Prostrate perennial herbs with rhizomatous stems, rooting at the nodes, often carpeting to 3 cm high in terrestrial situations, lax when aquatic. Terrestrial forms with stems often pinkish, sometimes the lower internodes tuberous in lowlands, leaves alternate, to 4 cm long and 3 mm wide, bright green or bluish, aquatic forms with leaves to 12 cm long and 5 mm wide. Flowers white or pale pink. Flowering between November and March. Fruits are pale brown subglobose capsule to 3.5 mm long, shorter than the sepals Seeds are black ovoid seed to 1.9 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, smooth and shiny. Seed embryo type is peripheral.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between November and May. Collect mature capsules, those that are turning yellow or pale brown colour and contain black seeds. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for one to 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 two collections, the seed viability were low to high, ranging from 25% to 100%. This may be due to the level of cleaning.
Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MSB | 2,100 (0.77 g) | 50 | 19-Dec-2007 | RJB76630 South Eastern | 95% | ||
BGA | 820 (0.65 g) | 100+ | 5-Dec-2012 | DJD2609 South Eastern | 27-Feb-2014 | 100% | -18°C |
BGA | 830 (0.66 g) | 200+ | 18-Nov-2013 | DJD2272 South Eastern | 24-Mar-2015 | 25% | -18°C |
BGA | 590 (0.47 g) | 100+ | 6-Dec-2012 | DJD2609 South Eastern | 1-Jan-2016 | 65% | -18°C |