Species profile—Polianthion minutiflorum
Classification
Plantae (plants) → Equisetopsida (land plants) → Rhamnaceae → Polianthion minutiflorum
Sighting data
Species details
- Kingdom
- Plantae (plants)
- Class
- Equisetopsida (land plants)
- Family
- Rhamnaceae
- Scientific name
- Polianthion minutiflorum (E.M.Ross) K.R.Thiele
- WildNet taxon ID
- 30919
- Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NCA) status
- Vulnerable
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC) status
- Vulnerable
- Conservation significant
- Yes
- Confidential
- No
- Endemicity
- Native
- Pest status
- Nil
- Description
- Polianthion minutiflorum is a shrub growing to 1 m high, The young stems are slender with a dense ferruginous indumentum of stellate hairs. The stipules are persistent, minute, linear, 0.1 to 0.4 mm long, and covered in hairs except for the tip. The petioles are 0.2 to 1.1 mm long, and are sometimes not very well defined when short. The leaf blades are conduplicate in bud then flat, obovate to broadly obovate, 2.2 to 11 mm long and 1.5 to 7 mm wide. The apex is obtuse to emarginate, slightly recurved. The lower leaf surface has a dense indumentum of greyish stellate hairs. The upper leaf surface is usually covered with an indumentum of stellate hairs, which are shorter than the indumentum on the lower surface.
The inflorescence occurs as loose terminal cymes with 20 to 40 minute, white flowers. The axes and flowers are densely white or greyish stellate-hairy. The bracts are 0.4 to 1.0 mm long, covered in stellate hairs. The sepals are incurved or erect 0.5 to 0.8 mm long. The petals are 0.3 to 0.7 mm long. The schizocarp is 3 to 4.5 mm long by 2 to 3.5 mm wide. The fruitlets are strongly crustaceous, both full-sized or one is sometimes smaller. The seeds are up to 3 mm long including the aril. The seed body is very compressed, oblong-ellipsoid, 1.8 to 2.5 mm long by 1.2 to 1.3 mm wide, dark brown to almost black at the base. The aril is narrow at the base, 0.5 to 0.7 mm long, yellow translucent with two short lateral lobes (Kellermann et al. 2006).
Polianthion minutiflorum is distinguished by its small hypanthium and very short style, as well as being the only Polianthion species from Queensland (Kellermann et al. 2006). - Map
- View Map
- Distribution
- Polianthion minutiflorum is known from Redcliffe Vale, about 110 km west of Mackay, south to Kingaroy, covering a distance of approximately 800 km. Locations include Redcliffe Vale; near Blackwater; Callide Range, north-east of Biloela; Coominglah State Forest, west of Monto; and in the Kingaroy area north of Nanango, north-east of Jandowae and near Goodger. The species has been recorded in State forest and timber reserve, including Amaroo State Forest, Coominglah State Forest and Diamondy State Forest (Queensland Herbarium, 2012).
- Distributional limits
- -21.0488888, 148.0227777
-26.6916667, 152.0282946 - Range derivation
- Range derived from extent of the taxon's verified records
- Habitat
- Polianthion minutiflorum is usually found in forest and woodland on sandstone slopes and gullies with skeletal soil, or sometimes deeper sands adjacent to deeply weathered laterite. Associated species and vegetation includes: open woodland of Acacia shirleyi, Lysicarpus angustifolius, Corymbia aureola; woodland of Eucalyptus corynodes, Corymbia trachyphloia, E. cloeziana on sandy soil over sandstone.; sandstone plateau with Eucalyptus dura, E. fibrosa, Angophora leiocarpa, E. major (Queensland Herbarium, 2012).
- Reproduction
- Polianthion minutiflorum flowers throughout the year. Fruits have been recorded in August and November (Kellermann et al., 2006; Queensland Herbarium, 2012).
- Threatening processes
- The main identified threats to Polianthion minutiflorum are vegetation clearing and altered fire regimes (DSEWPC, 2012).
- Status notes
- Polianthion minutiflorum is listed as Vulnerable under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992 and Vulnerable under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
- Management documents
- Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPC) (2012). Polianthion minutiflorum in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra. Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat. Accessed Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:17:25 +1100.
- Management recommendations
- Regional and local priority actions to support the recovery of Polianthion minutiflorum are outlined by DSEWPC (2012). A summary of these include: avoid habitat loss, disturbance and modification (e.g. monitor known populations to identify key threats, minimise adverse impacts from land use at known sites; identify populations of high conservation priority); increase conservation information (raise awareness of Polianthion minutiflorum in the local community); manage fire (e.g. develop and implement a suitable fire management strategy for P. minutiflorum); and enable recovery of additional sites and/or populations (e.g. undertake appropriate seed collection and storage).
- Notes
- Trymalium minutiflorum is a synonym.
- References
- Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPC) (2012). Polianthion minutiflorum in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra. Accessed 20/03/2012. http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat.
Kellermann, J., Rye, B.L. and Thiele, K.R. (2006). Polianthion, a new genus of Rhamnaceae (Pomaderreae) from Western Australia and Queensland. Australian Systematic Botany 19 (2): 175-179.
Queensland Herbarium (2012). Specimen label information. Queensland Herbarium. Accessed 20/03/2012. - Profile author
- Lynise Wearne (20/03/2012)
Other resources
- Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT)
- The Australasian Virtual Herbarium (AVH)
- Atlas of Living Australia
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=30919.
This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.
