''Ptilotus pyramidatus'' , the pyramid mulla mulla,
[ is a small white herb in the family ]Amaranthaceae
Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it ...
.[
''Ptilotus pyramidatus'' was first described in 1849 by ]Alfred Moquin-Tandon
Christian Horace Benedict Alfred Moquin-Tandon (7 May 1804 – 15 April 1863) was a French naturalist and doctor.
Moquin-Tandon was professor of zoology at Marseille from 1829 until 1833, when he was appointed professor of botany and director of ...
as ''Trichinium pyramidatum'',[ but was redescribed in 1868 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 ...
when he allocated it to the genus, ''Ptilotus
''Ptilotus'' R.Br. is a genus of approximately 120 species of annual and perennial herbs and shrubs in the family Amaranthaceae. All species are native to mainland Australia, although one species, '' Ptilotus spathulatus'' (R.Br.) Poir., also occ ...
''.[
Under ]Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
n conservation legislation it has been declared "rare".[
]
Mueller's description
''Ptilotus pyramidatus'' (Trichinium pyramidatum, Moq. in Cand. Prodr. xiii. div. ii. 288) mihi adest solum e collectione Drummondi sub 221 et 99. Folia suprema saepe ovata et perbrevi-petiolata. Spicae passim binatae. Stamina inaequilonga; unum alterumve sterile. Stylus glaber, circiter lineam metiens. Villi minutissime denticulati; articuli eorum plerique suo diametro aliquoties longiores.[
]
(translation)
I am here solely because of Drummond's specimens: 99 and 221
PERTH 782289 MEL 0235383A
collected in 1845).
The topmost leaves are nearly always ovate and shortly petiolate.
The spikes are randomly paired.
The stamens are unequal, with one or two being sterile. The style is smooth and is about 1/12 inch long.
The hairs (villi) are very minutely toothed, and their segments for the most part
are several times the length of their diameter.
A later description of the plant (as ''P. christineae'') is given in Davis & Tauss (2011).[
]
References
External links
* Davis, R.W. & Tauss, C. (2011
A new and rare species of ''Ptilotus'' (Amaranthaceae) from a suburban wetland of the eastern Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia
''Nuytsia'' 21(3): 97–102.
pyramidatus
Flora of Western Australia
Taxa named by Alfred Moquin-Tandon
Eudicots of Western Australia
Plants described in 1849
{{Australia-eudicot-stub