Plants of
South Australia
Poranthera huegelii
Phyllanthaceae
Heath Poranthera
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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 paintings: 2

Prior names

Poranthera ericoides, partly

Common names

Heath Poranthera

Etymology

Poranthera from the Greek 'porus' meaning opening or pore and 'anthera' meaning anther, referring to the terminal pores of the anther cells. Huegelii named after Baron Carl von Hugel (1795-1870), an Austrian traveller, plant collector and patron of horticulture.

Distribution and status

Found on southern Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and southern Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia, growing on higher ground, along roadside or firebreaks on lateritic clay, sand or loam. Also found in Western Australia. Native. Uncommon in South Australia. Common in Western Australia.
Herbarium regions: Eyre Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, Green Adelaide
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Erect multi-stemmed, glabrous heath-like undershrubs with several to many stems to 25 cm high, becoming woody basally. Leaves alternate, crowded; linear to narrow-oblong subacute, to 20 mm long and 2 mm; margins revolute and more or less concealing the paler underside. Inflorescence a terminal head consisting of numerous umbels of white flowers. Flowering between October and January. Fruits are dark green to brown depressed globular capsule to 3 mm diameter, 3 lobed with 6 seeds. Seeds are pale yellow to white sectoroid seed to 1 mm long and 0.6 mm wide, covered in white reticulate surface. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between November and February. Collect individual mature capsules, those that are drying off, fat and contain dark hard seeds or break off the fruiting umbels to allow the capsules to continue to mature. Green capsules can be collected if the seeds are dark and hard. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then gently rub the capsules with a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieves 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 was average to high, ranging from 80% to 100%.

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

12,500 (2.096 g)
40-5013-Nov-2006DJD663
Kangaroo Island
BGA4,700 (0.81 g)13-Nov-2006DJD658
Kangaroo Island
1-Aug-2007100%-18°C
BGA1,200 (0.33 g)2021-Nov-2006TST106
Southern Lofty
1-Aug-200780%-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.