''Muniria'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of four species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the mint

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

, Lamiaceae 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 else ...

to the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

in Australia. Plants in this genus are woolly shrubs with five petals joined to form a tube-shaped flower with four stamens of unequal lengths. These species are similar to those in the genus ''

Pityrodia ''Pityrodia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae and is endemic to Australia, most species occurring in Western Australia, a few in the Northern Territory and one in Queensland. Plants in this genus are shrubs with ...

'' except that the branches are distinctly 4-angled in cross section and the fruit has calluses or ridges.

Description

Plants in the genus ''Muniria'' are

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

shrubs, tall and densely covered with woolly hairs. The stems and branches are four-angled in cross section. The leaves are simple, elliptic to egg-shaped, arranged in opposite pairs, covered with woolly hairs and

glands In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

. The flowers are arranged singly or in groups of up to twelve in leaf axils and single flowers or groups are surrounded by leaf-like

bracteoles 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 o ...

. Flowers have five

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 coine ...

s which are joined for about half their length to form a tube with five lobes. The five petals are pale yellow to red and form a slightly curved tube with five lobes on the end, the upper lobes slightly shorter than the lower ones. There are four stamens with the lower pair shorter than the upper ones. The fruit is dry, does not release its seeds when mature and has ridges or

calluses A callus is an area of thickened and sometimes hardened skin that forms as a response to repeated friction, pressure, or other irritation. Since repeated contact is required, calluses are most often found on the feet and hands, but they may o ...

Taxonomy and naming

The genus was first described by Nikola Streiber and

Barry Conn Barry John Conn (Barry Conn, born 1948), is an Australian botanist. He was awarded a Ph.D. from Adelaide University in 1982 for work on ''Prostanthera''. Career Conn's first appointment as a botanist was with the Lae Herbarium in 1974. H ...

in 2011 and the description was published ''Australian Systematic Botany''. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

is '' Muniria quadrangulata'' which was first formally described in 1979 by Ahmad Abid Munir as ''Pityrodia quadrangulata''. In 2011, Barry Conn, Murray Henwood and Nikola Streiber transferred ''P. quadrangulata'' and three others in that genus to the new genus ''Muniria''. Four species of ''Muniria'' are accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

as at March 2020: * '' Muniria angustisepala'' (Munir) N.Streiber & B.J.Conn * '' Muniria lanceolata'' (Munir) N.Streiber & B.J.Conn * '' Muniria megalophylla'' (Munir) N.Streiber & B.J.Conn * '' Muniria quadrangulata '' (Munir) N.Streiber & B.J.Conn

Distribution

All species of ''Muniria'' are endemic to the Northern Territory.

References

External links

''Muniria'' occurrence data
from

Australasian Virtual Herbarium The ''Australasian Virtual Herbarium'' (AVH) is an online resource that allows access to plant specimen data held by various Australian and New Zealand herbaria. It is part of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), and was formed by the amalgama ...

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q21468703 Lamiaceae Lamiaceae genera Lamiales of Australia Taxa named by Barry John Conn