''Fontainea fugax'' is a shrub endemic to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, in the 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, e ...

, growing up to 4 m. In 1997, ''F. fugax'' was considered "endangered" having been found in only in the central Burnett district and within an endangered community, threatened by weeds, repeated fires and clearing.

Description

''Fontainea fugax'' is a

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

shrub growing to 4 m. The stems have a clear exudate. New shoots have sparse, antrorse (upward pointing)

trichomes Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

. There are no

stipules In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

and the leaves have petioles. The upper surfaces of the leaves are dark-green and the lower surfaces, pale-green. This plant is very like '' Fontainea rostrata'', but differs in that the base of the petiole is not swollen; the male flowers are shorter than those of '' F. rostrata'' (6-8 mm vs 11-13 mm); the number of stamens is 24 (versus 28–40); the beak of the endocarp is shorter (1-1.7 mm vs 2-3 mm) and the faces between the sutures of the endocarp are weakly corrugated (weakly

rugose Rugose means "wrinkled". It may refer to: * Rugosa, an extinct order of coral, whose rugose shape earned it the name * Rugose, adjectival form of rugae Species with "rugose" in their names * '' Idiosoma nigrum'', more commonly, a black rugose tr ...

versus strongly rugose).

Distribution and habitat

''Fontainea fugax'' is known only from an area between

Gayndah Gayndah is a town and locality in the North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Gayndah had a population of 1,981 people. It is the administrative centre for the North Burnett Region. Geography Gayndah is on the Burnett River and ...

and

Mundubbera Mundubbera ( ) is a town and a locality in the North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Mundubbera had a population of 1261 people. Mundubbera is the self-proclaimed "Citrus Capital of Queensland", although this is disputed by the n ...

, in south-east Queensland, with plants growing as understorey shrubs in a semi-evergreen vine thicket dominated by '' Backhousia kingii''.

Taxonomy and naming

The plant was first described by

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 ...

in "Three new species of ''Fontainea'' Heckel (Euphorbiaceae) from Australia and Papua New Guinea". The holotyp
AQ 650045
was collected on February 9, 1994, on the Gurgeena Plateau ( Burnett district, Queensland) at a height of 360 m.Holotype of Fontainea fugax P.I.Forst. 9family EUPHORBIACEAE)
JSTOR Global Plants. Retrieved 25 April 2019. The specific epithet, ''fugax'', derives from the Latin for "fleeting" and refers to the fleeting flowering material of this species, with female flowers not having been seen.

References

External links

* fugax Malpighiales of Australia Flora of Queensland Taxa named by Paul Irwin Forster Plants described in 1997 {{Australia-rosid-stub