Beyeria_lechenaultii

<i>Beyeria lechenaultii</i>

Beyeria lechenaultii

Species of flowering plants

Beyeria lechenaultii (common name - pale turpentine bush) is a species of dioecious (rarely monoecious)[2] flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, that is endemic to Australia.[3]

Quick Facts Beyeria lechenaultii, Scientific classification ...

It was first described in 1817 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle as Hemistemma lechenaultii, using a specimen collected on St Francis Island, South Australia[4] but in 1866 Henri Ernest Baillon assigned the species to the genus, Beyeria.[1][5] The specific epithet, lechenaultii, honours the French botanist, Jean-Baptiste Leschenault de La Tour.[4]

Description

Beyeria lechenaultii is a sticky shrub which grows up to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) high. Its leaves are oblong to linear, and the margins are sometimes recurved. The lower surfaces are woolly except on the midrib. The male flowers are found in groups of one to three, on a sticky stalk which is 1–6 mm (0.04–0.24 in) long. The sepals of the male flowers are plus or minus sticky. The female flowers are solitary on whitish stalks which lengthen when in fruit. The sepals of the female flowers are about 2 mm (0.08 in) long and whitish. The stigma has 3 broad recurved (curved backwards) lobes at its base. The capsule is ovoid to globose, and the stigma persists. It usually has three seeds which are about 5 mm (0.20 in) long and reddish-brown. It flowers in spring.[3]

In New South Wales it is usually an understorey shrub in mallee communities.[3]

Uses

The Noongar people of southwest Western Australia drank decoctions of the leaves to treat tuberculosis and fevers.[6]

References

  1. [1]
    "Beyeria lechenaultii". Australian Plant Name Index, IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  2. [2]
    Halford, David A.; Henderson, Rodney J. F. (2008). "A taxonomic revision of Beyeria Miq. (Euphorbiaceae: Ricinocarpeae, Ricinocarpinae)". Austrobaileya. 7 (4): 577–639. doi:10.5962/p.299758. JSTOR 41739083.
  3. [3]
    James, T.A.; Harden, G.J. (1990). "PlantNET - FloraOnline: Beyeria lechenaultii". plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au. Archived from the original on 21 March 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  4. [4]
    Candolle, A.P. de (1817). "Dicotyl. seu Exogenae". Regni Vegetabilis Systema Naturale. 1: 414.
  5. [5]
    Baillon, H.E. (1866). "Euphorbiacees Australiennes". Adansonia. 6: 307.
  6. [6]
    Hansen, V.; Horsefall, J. (2016). Noongar Bush Medicine Medicinal plants of the south-west of Western Australia. Crawley, WA: University of Western Australia. p. 129. ISBN 9781742589060.
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