''Pityrodia ternifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the mint family,

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

and is endemic to north-western Australia. It is an erect shrub with densely hairy stems, sticky and prickly, egg-shaped leaves, and mauve or pinkish-red, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

''Pityrodia ternifolia'' is an erect shrub that has its stems and branches densely covered with woolly, glandular hairs. Its leaves are usually arranged in

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral d ...

of three, sticky and prickly, egg-shaped, mostly long, wide and sessile. The edges of the leaves are toothed and sometimes sharply pointed, and there are scattered glandular hairs on both surfaces. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils on a thin

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

, usually shorter than the leaves and there are 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 and linear or narrowly elliptic bracteoles at the base of the flowers. The sepals are long and joined at the base forming a bell-shaped tube with five lance-shaped lobes long. The five

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s are mauve or pinkish-red, long and joined at the base to form a more or less cylindrical tube with two "lips". The lower lip has 3 lobes, the middle lobe larger than the other two and long, the upper lip with 2 oblong or narrowly elliptic lobes long, with deep, purplish streaks. Flowering occurs from March to August and the fruit is oval, glabrous and long.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1859 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

who gave it the name ''Dennisonia ternifolia'' in the '' Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Botany''. In 1979,

Ahmad Abid Munir Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

moved it to the genus ''Pityrodia'' as ''Pityrodia ternifolia'' in the '' Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens''. 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 ...

(''ternifolia'') means "three-leaved", referring to the whorled leaves.`

Distribution and habitat

This pityrodia grows in sandy soils on sandstone ridges and rocks in the Northern Kimberley, Victoria Bonaparte, Arnhem Coast, Arnhem Plateau, Darwin Coastal,

Gulf Coastal The Gulf Coastal, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory,IBR ...

, Gulf Fall and Uplands, Ord Victoria Plain and Pine Creek bioregions of the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Pityrodia ternifolia'' is listed as of "least concern" under the Northern Territory Government ''

Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

'' and as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Western Australian government The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state de ...

. Together with '' P. jamesii'' and '' P. pungens'', ''P. ternifolia'' is a primary food source for the uncommon and very brightly coloured Leichhardt's grasshopper (''Petasida ephippigera'').

References

External links

''Pityrodia ternifolia'': Occurrence data from the Australasian Virtual Herbarium
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15350166 ternifolia Plants described in 1859 Flora of Western Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller