Poranthera obovata Halford & R.J.F.Hend. APNI* Description: Spreading to erect, herbaceous perennial to 20 cm high. Stems unbranched or sparingly branched. Branchlets ascending to erect or rarely procumbent, smooth or papillose, glabrous.
Leaves sessile, alternate, crowded along branchlets, lamina narrow-obovate, 10–15 mm long, 1.5–3 mm wide, flat with margins slightly recurved, smooth and glabrous, discolourous, midrib prominent abaxially, apex obtuse, base attenuate. Stipules entire.
Flowers in short dense terminal racemes; racemes solitary or rarely several in a leafy terminal corymb; peduncles 10–25 mm long; rachis 2–30 mm long; bracts narrow-obovate, 2–7 mm long.
Capsule depressed globose, 2.8–3 mm across, prominently 6-lobed distally, papillose; seeds wedge-shaped, reticulate-foveate with fovea white and ridges pale brown and translucent.
Flowering: Flowers have been collected from February, April, June, July and from August to December, fruits in February, April, June, September, October and December.
Distribution and occurrence: Eastern Australia, from central Queensland southwards to Glenreagh in New South Wales. In heath, open woodland and forest communities, often on shallow, sandy soils usually overlying sandstone or gravelly, sandy clays.
NSW subdivisions: NC
Other Australian states: Qld
Poranthera obovata is similar to P. ericifolia. It can be distinguished from P. ericifolia by having narrow-oblanceolate leaves, slightly recurved rather than strongly recurved to revolute leaf margins and entire rather than laciniate stipules.
Text by S.F. McCune
Taxon concept: Halford & Henderson (2005) Austrobaileya 7(1):1-27.
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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