''Bursaria'' is a genus of eight species of flowering plants in the family

Pittosporaceae Pittosporaceae is a family of flowering plants that consists of 200–240 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas in 9 genera. Habitats range from tropical to temperate climates of the Afrotropical, Indomalayan, Oceanian, and Australasian realms. T ...

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 else ...

to Australia. They are shrubs or slender trees, often with spiny branches and have

simple leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

, relatively small flowers with five

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s, five petals and five stamens, and fruit that is a flattened, thin-walled capsule.

Description

Plants in the genus ''Bursaria'' range from low shrubs to small, slender trees and have branches that are often spiny. The leaves are arranged alternately along the branches or clustered and are linear to lance-shaped, egg-shaped or wedge-shaped, sometimes with toothed edges or a notched tip. The flowers are relatively small, arranged singly in racemes or panicles at the ends of branchlets or in leaf axils. There are five sepals that are free from each other, five narrow oblong, spreading white petals, and five stamens that are free from each other. The fruit is a flattened, thin-walled capsule containing ten to fifty kidney-shaped seeds.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Bursaria'' was first formally described in 1797 by Antonio Cavanilles in his book ''Icones et descriptiones plantarum'' and the first species he described was '' Bursaria spinosa''. The genus name, ''Bursaria'' means "possessing a bag or a satchel".

Species list

The names of eight species are accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

as of October 2021: * '' Bursaria calcicola'' L.Cayzer, Crisp & I.Telford (N.S.W.) * '' Bursaria cayzerae'' I.Telford & L.M.Copel. (N.S.W.) * '' Bursaria incana''

Lindl. John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley ...

(N.T., Qld.) * '' Bursaria longisepala''

Domin Karel Domin (4 May 1882, Kutná Hora, Kingdom of Bohemia – 10 June 1953, Prague) was a Czech botanist and politician. After gymnasium school studies in Příbram, he studied botany at the Charles University in Prague, and graduated in 1906 ...

(N.S.W.) * '' Bursaria occidentalis''

E.M.Benn. Eleanor Marion Bennett (born 4 February 1942) (née Scrymgeour) is an Australian botanist who was employed by the Western Australian Herbarium from 1965 to 1970. She collected ''Eucalyptus'' species in the south-west of Western Australia and pub ...

(W.A.) * '' Bursaria reevesii'' L.Cayzer, Crisp & I.Telford (Qld.) * '' Bursaria spinosa'' Cav. – sweet bursaria, blackthorn (S.A., Qld., N.S.W., Vic., Tas.) * '' Bursaria tenuifolia''

F.M.Bailey Frederick Manson Bailey (8 March 1827 – 25 June 1915) was a botanist active in Australia, who made valuable contributions to the characterisation of the flora of Queensland. He was known by his middle name, Manson. Early life Bailey was b ...

(Qld.)

Distribution

Species of ''Bursaria'' occur in all Australian states and territories and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q339210 Apiales of Australia Pittosporaceae Apiales genera Taxa named by Antonio José Cavanilles