''Wurmbea dioica'', commonly known as early Nancy, is a species of plant in the family

Colchicaceae Colchicaceae is a family of flowering plants that includes 15 genera with a total of about 285 known species according to Christenhusz and Byng in 2016. Description The family is characterized by the presence of colchicine. Taxonomy The APG III ...

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 Australia. It is a

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

with three linear to thread-like leaves and usually two to seven white flowers with a purple or greenish

nectary Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

band.

Description

''Wurmbea dioica'' is a herb that typically grows to a height of and has three linear to thread-like or tapering leaves long and wide with a sheathing base. Individual plants may have male-only, female-only or both male and female flowers and sometimes bisexual flowers. There are up to fifteen flowers on each plant, each with six elliptic white

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s long. Each tepal has a purple to greenish or white nectary band one-quarter to half the length from its base. The

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are half to two-thirds as long as the tepals and the

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

are about long and red or purple. Flowering occurs mainly from June to November and the fruit is a capsule long.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown who gave it the name ''Anguillaria dioica'' and published the description in ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a flora of Australia written by botanist Robert Brown and published in 1810. Often referred to as ''Prodromus Flora Novae ...

''. In 1877,

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 ...

changed the name to ''Wurmbea dioica'' in '' Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae''. The names of three subspecies 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 ...

: * ''Wurmbea dioica'' subsp. ''alba'' T.D.Macfarl. has all-white tepals; * ''Wurmbea dioica'' subsp. ''brevifolia'' R.J.Bates is distinguished by its short, egg-shaped upper leaf and pink-edged tepals; * ''Wurmbea dioica'' (R.Br.) F.Muell. subsp. ''dioica'' has an elongated upper leaf with a tapering or thread-like tip and a purple nectary band.

Distribution and habitat

''Wurmbea dioica'' is widespread and common in all six Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory but is not known from the Northern Territory. It grows in a wide variety of habitats. Subspecies ''dioica'' is the most common subspecies, occurring in all eastern states, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. Subspecies ''brevifolia'' is found in Victoria and South Australia, growing in drier places that subsp. ''dioica'', and subsp. ''alba'' is restricted to Western Australia where it grows in winter-wet swamps and around granite rocks.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q8039298 dioica Monocots of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of South Australia Flora of Tasmania Flora of Victoria (Australia) Angiosperms of Western Australia Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773) Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller