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Abutilon leucopetalum (F.Muell.) Benth.
Desert Chinese Lantern

Reference
Fl.Austral. 1:200-201 (1863)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Shrub, 0.3-2 m high. Fl. yellow/white, Mar to Aug. Red sand, laterite. Dunes, rocky creeklines, flats, breakaways.

Grazyna Paczkowska, Descriptive Catalogue, 18 September 1996
Image

Scientific Description

Shrub. Stems hairy. Leaves 35-40 mm long, 25-30 mm wide, not lobed; margins serrate; indumentum present, with non-tubercle-based simple hairs, with stellate hairs; stipules present but early deciduous (only visible on youngest leaves). Perianth clearly of two whorls (calyx and corolla), the corolla obvious and prominent. Pedicel present, 10-22 mm long; indumentum present, with simple hairs, with stellate hairs. Calyx green, 14-20 mm long, the lobes fused half or more of their length, simple hairs (without tubercle bases) present, stellate hairs present. Corolla yellow, 30-40 mm long, glabrous, scales absent. Stamens many, united and arising from a staminal tube around the style; filaments present, 20-30 mm long; anthers 0.8-1 mm long. Staminodes absent. Ovary hairs or scales present, simple hairs present; style 1, 15-28 mm long, with numerous style branches or lobes, hairy for most of length. Fruits dehiscent (capsules and follicles), length-width ratio more or less as long as wide, hairs or scales present, simple hairs (without tubercle bases) present, stellate hairs present; apex rounded; terminal awns or spines absent; calyx persistent to mature fruit; carpels 11; seeds per loculus 2-4. Flowering time March, April, May, June, July or August. Distribution Botanical Province Northern or Eremaean, IBRA Bioregion Great Sandy Desert, Tanami, Pilbara, Little Sandy Desert, Gibson Desert, Central Ranges, Murchison, Great Victorian Desert, North Kimberley, Central Kimberley, Dampierland or Ord-Victorian-Plain.

C. Hollister and K.R. Thiele, 15 January 2020

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Central Kimberley, Central Ranges, Dampierland, Gibson Desert, Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria Desert, Little Sandy Desert, Murchison, Northern Kimberley, Ord Victoria Plain, Pilbara, Tanami.
IBRA Subregions
Central, Eastern Murchison, Fitzroy Trough, Fortescue, Hamersley, Hart, Lateritic Plain, Mackay, Mann-Musgrave Block, McLarty, Mitchell, Pindanland, Purnululu, Shield, South Kimberley Interzone, Tanami Desert, Trainor.
IMCRA Regions
Pilbara (offshore).
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Derby-West Kimberley, East Pilbara, Halls Creek, Karratha, Laverton, Menzies, Ngaanyatjarraku, Wiluna, Wyndham-East Kimberley.