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Species profile—Actephila bella

Classification

Plantae (plants) → Equisetopsida (land plants) → PhyllanthaceaeActephila bella

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Species details

Kingdom
Plantae (plants)
Class
Equisetopsida (land plants)
Family
Phyllanthaceae
Scientific name
Actephila bella P.I.Forst.
WildNet taxon ID
30539
Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NCA) status
Endangered
Conservation significant
Yes
Confidential
No
Endemicity
Native
Pest status
Nil
Short Notes
BRI 256789, 256790
Description
Actephila bella is a subshrub or shrub to 3 m high with an indumentum of simple trichomes. The plant is mainly glabrous, though the branchlets can have a scattered to sparse indumentum when young. The stipules are ovate-triangular, 0.8 to 1.2 mm long by 0.7 to 1.2 mm wide, with scattered cilia. The leaves are alternate and coriaceous. The petioles are 3 to 47 mm long by 0.8 to 1 mm wide, cream, lenticellate, glabrous or with a sparse indumentum. The lamina is elliptic-ovate, rarely obovate, 56 to 145 mm long by 23 to 61 mm wide, length/width ratio 1.9 to 3.1; base obtuse to rounded, rarely subcordate and unequal; the tip is acute to acuminate, rarely rounded; the midrib above is slightly raised, pale green, below, it is strongly raised at the lamina base, then decreasing towards the apex, pale olive-green and matt; the lateral and intercostal venation is prominent and slightly raised. The lamina margins are entire. The inflorescence is axillary and is either single sex or with both male and female flowers. The male flowers are on pedicels 13 to 15 mm long by about 0.8 mm diameter with 5 sepals that are fused for 2.5 to 3 mm, the lobes are oblong-ovate, 2.5 to 3.5 mm long by 3.5 to 5 mm wide, glabrous or sparsely ciliate in patches towards the apices. The petals are absent or present as one or two, oblong, 2.5 to 3 mm long by 0.4 to 0.7 mm wide, the disc is conspicuous, fleshy, 1.5 to 2 mm high by 6 to 7.5 mm diameter, 5 angled; stamens 3 to 5, filaments 2.5 to 3 mm long by 0.3 to 0.5 mm diameter, anthers 0.7 to 0.8 mm long by 1 to 1.2 mm wide. Female flowers have not been seen. The fruit is on a pedicel about 18 mm long by 0.5 mm diameter, capsules depressed-globose to subglobose, rounded, 9 to 10 mm long by 12 to 13 mm diameter, strongly bullate, green in colour. The seeds have not been seen.
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Distribution
Actephila bella is known from populations at Shoalwater Bay and Bulburin National Park (several localities) (Forster, 2005).
Distributional limits
-22.5592914, 150.3439531
-24.6277778, 151.5596739
Range derivation
Range derived from extent of the taxon's verified records
Habitat
Actephila bella grows in the understorey of dry rainforest (araucarian notophyll vineforest) on alluvium and substrates derived from andesite at altitudes between 160 and 300 m (Forster, 2005).
Reproduction
Flowers of Actephila bella have been collected in January (Queensland Herbarium, 2012).
Threatening processes
Threatening process include: weed invasion of the habitat, particularly by Lantana camara; chance stochastic events (e.g. change in drainage on the site, drought, predation by wildlife) that may reduce the population size or eliminate it entirely (all populations); and genetic inbreeding depression due to the small population size (Forster, 2008)
Status notes
Actephila bella is listed as Vulnerable under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act, 1992.
References
Forster, P.I. (2005). A taxonomic revision of Actephila Blume (Euphorbiaceae/Phyllanthaceae) in Australia. Austrobaileya 7 (1): 65-66.
Forster, P.I. (2008). Nomination form and guidelines for listing protected wildlife under the Nature Conservation Act 1992. Species Technical Committee February 2008.
Queensland Herbarium (2012). Specimen label information. Queensland Herbarium. Accessed 19/01/2012.
Profile author
Ronald Booth (05/06/2012)

Other resources

Data source

This profile data is sourced from the QLD Wildlife Data API using the Get species by ID function used under CC-By 4.0.
https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species/?op=getspeciesbyid&taxonid=30539.

This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.

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Licence
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Last updated
20 May 2024