''Lawrencia squamata'' is a species of plant in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is endemic to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and occurs in all Australian states. (all mainland states)

Description

''Lawrencia squamata'', thorny lawrencia, or fan-leaved lawrencia, is a spiny dioecious shrub/herb, from 0.02 to 1.5 m high. The leaves are scaly and not lobed, 10 to 40 mm long and 5 to 20 mm wide, with peltate scales. The flowers have both a calyx and a corolla, with the corolla being yellow, white, red or purple,. The flowers are axillary. They are seen between August and January in WA, May to November in SA, September to November in Victoria. The stamens are many and united.

Habitat

It grows on clayey soils, and is found fringing saltlakes and salty depressions.

Taxonomy

''Lawrencia squamata'' was first described by

Nees von Esenbeck Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (14 February 1776 – 16 March 1858) was a prolific German botanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher. He was a contemporary of Goethe and was born within the lifetime of Linnaeus. He des ...

in 1845.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17580119 squamata Flora of Western Australia Flora of South Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of Tasmania Dioecious plants