''Cheiranthera alternifolia'', commonly known as finger-flower, is a flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae. It is a small shrub with deep bluish-purple flowers, yellow stamens and dull green linear shaped leaves. It is found growing in South Australia.

Description

''Cheiranthera alternifolia'' is a small understory, scrambling, perennial shrub to with smooth stems. The leaves are linear long, wide, arranged alternately, usually evenly spaced along stems and margins rolled under. The flowers may be single or in clusters of 2-11, peduncles long,

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

long, stems and 5 yellow stamens. The petals may be pale to deep bluish-purple, lanceolate, long and wide. The fruit capsules are more or less oblong to egg-shaped, long and flattened. Flowering occurs from October to November.

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first formally described in 1978 by Eleanor Marion Bennett and the description was published in ''

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''alternifolia'') is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''alternus'' meaning "alternate" and -''folius'' meaning "leaved".

Distribution

Finger-flower is a common,

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 ...

species in southern locations of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, from the southern parts of the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named aft ...

to the south-east and Kangaroo Island. It was previously found in Victoria but is now presumed extinct in that State.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15588934 Pittosporaceae Apiales of Australia Flora of South Australia Taxa named by Allan Cunningham (botanist)