''Platysace lanceolata'', commonly known as shrubby platysace, is a flowering plant in the family

Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants ...

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 south-eastern Australia. It is small, upright shrub with variable shaped leaves and white flowers.

Description

''Platyscace lanceolata'' is an upright or widely spreading shrub to with stems usually covered in short, soft hairs. The leaves are a dull green, narrow to broadly elliptic, occasionally more or less circular, arranged alternately, long and wide, smooth margins, base heart-shaped, and the apex pointed or rounded. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

has cream-white flowers in an

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

in diameter,

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 elliptic or linear in shape, long, and on a peduncle long. Flowering occurs from September to March and the fruit long, wide and warty.

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first formally described by French naturalist

Jacques Labillardière Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the Jean-François de Galaup, comte ...

in 1805 in the first volume of ''

Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen ''Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen'' is a two-volume work describing the flora of Australia. Facsimiles of the originals can be found in the onlinBiodiversity Heritage Library (Vol.1)anVol 2) The author was the French botanist Jacques Labillar ...

'' and given the name ''Azorella lanceolata''. The species was transferred to the genus ''

Platysace ''Platysace'' is a genus of woody perennial herbs and subshrubs in the family Apiaceae. The genus is endemic to Australia. Taxonomy The genus was first described by Alexander von Bunge in 1845. A 2021 molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogen ...

'' in 1917 by English botanist

George Claridge Druce George Claridge Druce, MA, LLD, JP, FRS, FLS (23 May 1850 – 29 February 1932) was an English botanist and a Mayor of Oxford. Personal life and education G. Claridge Druce was born at Potterspury on Watling Street in Northamptonshire. ...

and the description was published in ''The Botanical Exchange Club and Society of the British Isles Report for 1916, Suppl.2''

Distribution and habitat

This platysace is a common, widespread species found growing in heath, scrub, open forests, and sometimes sandy situations in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

References

External links

''Platysace lanceolata'' Australasian Virtual Herbarium occurrence data
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7202823 lanceolata Flora of the Australian Capital Territory Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Victoria (Australia) Taxa named by Jacques Labillardière Plants described in 1805