''Asperula asthenes'' is a species of flowering plant in the family
Rubiaceae
The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules ...
, known as trailing woodruff, and is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the east coast of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
Description
This is a low perennial herb. Leaves are arranged in whorls of four around the stem. The flowers are small, white and star-shaped; fruit are tiny and two-lobed, 1 mm in length.
Distribution
The species occurs in New South Wales only, growing in damp areas mainly along river banks. Reported locations are the Central Coast north to near
Kempsey, and the
Port Stephens,
Wallis Lake
Wallis Lake, an open and trained wave dominated barrier estuary, is located within the Mid-Coast Council local government area in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Wallis Lake is located adjacent to the towns of Forster ...
and
Forster area.
[
]
Threats
The species is under threat from herbicide use, invasive weed species, and disturbance from stock grazing. Water table
The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated.
T ...
raising to reduce acid sulphate discharge may be potentially be detrimental.[
]
References
asthenes
Canasteros and thistletails are small passerine birds of South America belonging to the genus ''Asthenes''. The name "canastero" comes from Spanish and means "basket-maker", referring to the large, domed nests these species make of sticks or gra ...
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