''Acalypha lyonsii'', commonly known as Lyon's acalypha is a shrub in the spurge family

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as '' Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, ...

that is only found in the vicinity of Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

Description

''Acalypha lyonsii'' is a shrub up to tall. The leaves are arranged alternately on the twigs and measure up to long by wide. They have rounded teeth on the margins and 4 or 5 lateral veins either side of the midrib. Flowers are produced from the - male flowers are less than long and carried on a

spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...

, female flowers are solitary, about diameter and subtended by a much larger bract. The fruit is a 3-lobed capsule about long and wide.

Taxonomy

This species was described in 1994 by the Queensland botanist

Paul Irwin Forster Paul Irwin Forster (born 1961) is an Australian botanist. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Queensland in 2004 with his thesis ''The pursuit of plants : studies on the systematics, ecology and chemistry of the vascular flora of A ...

based on material collected by Christopher Lyons in 1992 on the Lamb Range southwest of Cairns. The species is named after him.

Distribution and habitat

''Acalypha lyonsii'' grows as an

understorey In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abo ...

plant in rainforest near Cairns, at altitudes from sea level to about .

Conservation

This species is listed by the Queensland Government's Department of Environment, Science and Innovation as vulnerable. , it has not been assessed by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

(IUCN).

Gallery

File:Acalypha-lyonsii-SF24009-02.jpg, Flowers File:Acalypha-lyonsii-SF24009-03.jpg, Foliage File:Acalypha-lyonsii-SF24009-04.jpg, File:Acalypha-lyonsii-SF24009-05.jpg,

References

External links

View a map
of herbarium collections of this species at the

Australasian Virtual Herbarium The ''Australasian Virtual Herbarium'' (AVH) is an online resource that allows access to plant specimen data held by various Australian and New Zealand herbaria. It is part of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), and was formed by the amalgama ...

View observations
of this species on

iNaturalist iNaturalist is a social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its website or from its mobile applic ...

View images
of this species on Flickriver.com {{Taxonbar, from=Q9574538 lyonsii Endemic flora of Queensland Taxa named by Paul Irwin Forster Plants described in 1994