Maireana thesioides
| Maireana thesioides | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Amaranthaceae |
| Genus: | Maireana |
| Species: | M. thesioides
|
| Binomial name | |
| Maireana thesioides | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Kochia thesioides C.A.Gardner | |
Maireana thesioides, commonly known as mulga bluebush or lax bluebush,[2] is a plant in the Amaranthaceae family and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a weak, straggly, mostly glabrous shrub with slender, often drooping branches, fleshy, narrowly spindle-shaped leaves, flowers arranged singly and a crusty, glabrous fruiting perianth with a thin, horizontal wing.
Description
Maireana thesioides is a weak, straggly shrub that typically grows to a height of about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) and is glabrous, apart from tufts of woolly hairs in the leaf axils. The branches are slender, striated and often drooping. The leaves are arranged alternately, narrowly spindle-shaped and fleshy, 5–15 mm (0.20–0.59 in) long and narrowed at the base with a distinct petiole. The flowers are bisexual and arranged singly, the fruiting perianth glabrous with a top-shaped tube about 3 mm (0.12 in) high with a thin, simple, horizontal wing 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) in diameter with a single slit.[3][4]
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1943 as Kochia thesioides by Charles Austin Gardner in the Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia from a specimen he collected between Meekatharra and Wiluna.[5][6] In 1972, Paul Graham Wilson transferred the species to Maireana as M. thesioides in the journal Nuytsia.[4][7] The specific epithet (thesioides) means 'Thesium-like'.[8]
Distribution and habitat
Maireana thesioides grows on stony flats or in sub-saline areas from Koorda north to the Hamersley Range and east to Menzies in the Avon Wheatbelt, Carnarvon, Coolgardie, Gascoyne, Little Sandy Desert, Murchison, Pilbara and Yalgoo bioregions of central Western Australia.[3][4][9]
Conservation status
Maireana thesioides is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.[9]
References
- ^ a b "Maireana thesioides". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
- ^ Paul G.Wilson (2020). "Maireana thesioides". Flora of Australia. Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
- ^ a b Wilson, Paul G. "Maireana thesioides". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
- ^ a b c Wilson, Paul G. (1975). "A Taxonomic Revision of the genus Maireana (Chenopodiaceae)". Nuytsia. 2 (1): 45. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
- ^ "Kochia thesioides". APNI. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
- ^ Gardner, Charles A. (1943). "Contributiones Florae Australiae Occidentalis, XI". Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia. 27: 172. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
- ^ "Maireana thesioides". APNI. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
- ^ George, Alex S.; Sharr, Francis A. (2023). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings - A Glossary (fifth ed.). Kardinya: Four Gables Press. p. 336. ISBN 9780645629538.
- ^ a b "Maireana thesioides". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.