Acalypha lyonsii

Acalypha lyonsii, commonly known as Lyons' acalypha, is a rare species of plants in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae found only in the vicinity of Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

Description

Acalypha lyonsii is a shrub up to tall. The leaves are arranged alternately on the twigs and measure up to long by wide. They have rounded teeth on the margins and 4 or 5 lateral veins on either side of the midrib. Flowers are produced from the - male flowers are less than long and are carried on a spike, female flowers are solitary, about in diameter and subtended by a persistent bract about wide. The fruit is a 3-lobed capsule about long and wide.

Taxonomy

This species was described in 1994 by the Queensland botanist Paul Irwin Forster based on material collected by Christopher Lyons in 1992 on the Lamb Range southwest of Cairns. The species is named after the collector.

Distribution and habitat

Acalypha lyonsii grows as an understorey plant in rainforests near Cairns, at altitudes from sea level to about.

Conservation

This species is listed by the Queensland Government's Department of Environment, Science and Innovation as vulnerable., it has not been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.