Diocirea ternata
Diocirea ternata is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to a small area near Balladonia in Western Australia. It is a low shrub with a restricted distribution but which often occurs in large numbers, forming a dense ground cover. It is readily distinguished from the other three species in the genus by its unusual leaf arrangement.
Description
Diocirea ternata is a shrub with many stems and which sometimes grows to a height of and spreads to a width of. Its branches have many raised resin glands and the leaves are arranged in rings of three around the stems. The leaves are mostly long, about wide, egg-shaped tapering to a point and sticky due to the presence of resin.The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils and lack a stalk. There are 5 egg-shaped, pointed green sepals with hairs on their edges. The petals are white, sometimes pale violet at first, and are joined to form a tube long with lobes which are about long. The lobes are spotted purple near the centre of the flower and the tube is mostly glabrous except for a few hairs on the lower lobe. There are 4 stamens which extend slightly beyond the petal tube. The fruit that follows flowering is a flattened oval shape, with a crusty brown covering.