''Goodenia byrnesii'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Goodeniaceae Goodeniaceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants in the Order (biology), order Asterales. It contains about 404 species in twelve genera. The family is distributed mostly in Australia, except for the genus ''Scaevola (plant), Scaevo ...

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 northern Australia. It is prostrate to low-lying

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 ...

with short-lived, lance-shaped leaves at the base, egg-shaped to oblong, toothed stem leaves, and leafy

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 of yellow flowers.

Description

''Goodenia byrnesii'' is a prostrate to low-lying herb with stems up to long. The leaves at the base of the plant are short-lived, lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide, the stem leaves egg-shaped to oblong, mostly long and wide and

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

. The flowers are arranged in racemes up to long on a peduncle long with leaf-like

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s at the base. The

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 coined b ...

s are narrow oblong to elliptic, long and wide, the petals yellow, long. The lower lobes of the corolla are long with wings about wide. Flowering occurs from January to June and the fruit is a more or less spherical capsule in diameter.

Taxonomy and naming

''Goodenia byrnesii'' was first formally described in 1990 by

Roger Charles Carolin Roger Charles Carolin (born 1929) is a botanist, pteridologist and formerly an associate professor at Sydney University. He was appointed as a lecturer in botany at the University of Sydney in 1955 earned a Ph.D from Sydney University in 1962 w ...

in the journal '' Telopea'' from specimens collected near Elliott by Norman Byrnes. 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 ...

(''byrnesii'') honours the collector of the type.

Distribution and habitat

This goodenia grows on black soil plains in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region of Western Australia, the northern part of the Northern Territory and the

Burke Burke is an Anglo-Norman Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (–1206) had the surname ''de Burgh'' which was gaelicised ...

district of north-west Queensland.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17479894 byrnesii Flora of Queensland Eudicots of Western Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Plants described in 1992 Taxa named by Roger Charles Carolin