Maireana stipitata
Maireana stipitata is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to the west of Western Australia. It is a widely branching shrub with white woolly branches, semi-terete leaves, flowers arranged singly and a somewhat compressed fruiting perianth with a wavy, papery wing.
Description
Maireana stipitata is a widely branching shrub that typically grows to a height of up to and has branches covered with white, woolly hairs. Its leaves are arranged alternately, fleshy semiterete, long with a few woolly hairs. The flowers are dioecious or bisexual and arranged singly, the fruiting perianth is flattened, pale brown with a very short tube and top-shaped, produced at the base into a prominent, very thick-walled stalk long. The wing is simple, wavy and papery in diameter.
Taxonomy and naming
Maireana stipitata was first formally described in 1975 by Paul G. Wilson in the journal Nuytsia. The specific epithet means stipitate,.
Distribution and habitat
This species of bluebush grows in sub-saline areas and is found in the Shark Bay region and in the Dampier Archipelago in the Carnarvon, Pilbara and Yalgoo bioregions in the west of Western Australia.