''Euphrasia arguta'' is a plant from the genus '' Euphrasia'' (eyebrights) within the family

Orobanchaceae Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family of mostly parasitic plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera (e.g., ''Pedicularis'', ''Rhinanthus'', ''Striga'') were formerly included in the ...

. The species was last recorded in June 1904 near Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia, and was presumed extinct until rediscovered in 2008 by Forests worker Graham Marshall in NSW's Nundle State Forest. Some scientists consider that it is a variety of the threatened Rough Eyebright (''Euphrasia scabra''). Previously the whole genus ''Euphrasia'' was regarded as part of the family Scrophulariaceae. It was first described by Robert Brown in his reference work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen in 1810. A further identification of the plant was reported from the

Barrington Tops Barrington Tops is part of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales, Australia, between Gloucester and Scone. In 1934, the area was difficult to access and was described as being "not traceable to any man-made feature". Part of the area has ...

in 2012.

Description

The erect

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

of this annual

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

reaches a height from 20 to 35 centimetres and is covered with dense hairs. The deeply lobed leaves are opposite. The upper stem leaves with a length of about six to fourteen millimetres and a width from 3.5 to 13 millimetres are ovate-ellyptic. The

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s consists of 50 to 90 flowers. The length of the usually scabrous calyx reaches from 5.5 to 7 millimetres. The corolla measures from ten to fourteen millimetres coloured from white to lilac with yellow markings. The tube is 6.7 to 8.5 millimetres long and the

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

0.9 to 1.7 millimetres. The capsule has a length of 4 to 7.5 millimetres and is bristly at the upper half. Like the other eyebright species ''Euphrasia arguta'' is a partial parasite and is connected through a

haustorium In botany and mycology, a haustorium (plural haustoria) is a rootlike structure that grows into or around another structure to absorb water or nutrients. For example, in mistletoe or members of the broomrape family, the structure penetrates t ...

to the

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

lets of other plants. The flowering period is from October to January.

Occurrence

Its previous habitat consists of grassy areas near rivers in elevations until 700 m asl with an annual rainfall of 600 mm. It was native in the

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

North Coast North Coast or Northcoast may refer to : Antigua and Barbuda * Major Division of North Coast, a census division in Saint John Parish Australia *New South Wales North Coast, a region Canada *The British Columbia Coast, primarily the communiti ...

(NC), Northern Tablelands (NT), Central Tablelands (CT), North West Slopes (NWS) and Central West Slopes (CWS) in the Australian state 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 ...

, in particular in the areas from Bathurst to Walcha.

Status

In 1982 Australian botanist William R. Barker stated in his study "''Taxonomic studies in Euphrasia L. (Scrophulariaceae). A revised infrageneric classification, and a revision of the genus in Australia''" in the ''Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens'' that ''Euphrasia arguta'' was not collected for at least 75 years. In 1997 the World Conservation Monitoring Centre compiled it into the IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants within the category "globally extinct".Kerry S. Walter & Harriet J. Gillett: ''1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants.'' Compiled by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. After the enacting of the

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

in 2000 it was listed as officially extinct in July 2000 by the

Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

. On 6 July 2008 Ian MacDonald, New South Wales Primary Industries Minister, announced that Forestry Workers had rediscovered specimens of ''Euphrasia arguta'' in Nundle State Forest, New South Wales.

References

External links

New South Wales Flora Online - Euphrasia argutaHerbarium sheet from the Australian National HerbariumEcology of Sydney plant species
(PDF)
Photograph of the rediscovered speciesAFP announcement of rediscovery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1374156 arguta Flora of New South Wales Lamiales of Australia

Description

Occurrence

Status

References

Further reading

External links