Ptilotus polystachyus

Ptilotus polystachyus is a perennial herb in the Amaranthaceae family.

Description

P. polystachyus grows to 1-1.5m tall. Stems are ribbed with short crisped or verticillate hairs near the base, and can be simple or paniculately branching, in clumps up to 2m in diameter. Leaves are alternate, cauline, linear to lanceolate, with margins undulate, 10-210 mm long and 1.5-36 mm wide.
Inflorescences are terminal, cylindrical, greenish-brown, 20-210 mm long and can contain more than 150 flowers. Bracts are narrow- to broad-ovate, with sparse verticillate hairs, glabrescent, and 3.1-7.1 mm long. Bracteoles are broad-ovate, translucent, glabrous or sparsely hairy, and 3-5.6 mm long. Flowers are borne on 0.2-1.3 mm long peduncles, with perianth segments linear-spathulate, acute, and 12-16 mm long. Flowers have 3 or 4 stamens and 1 or 2 staminodes and deep-red at the base. Ovary is subsessile and glabrous.

Distribution

Ptilotus polystachyus is endemic to Australia and found in all mainland states and the Northern Territory. It occurs more frequently in the drier inland parts of the continent, and is thought to be opportunistic in disturbed areas such as road edges.

Taxonomy

It was first described in 1829 by Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré as Trichinium polystachyum, but was redescribed in 1868 by Ferdinand von Mueller as belonging to the genus Ptilotus. In 2010 P. polystachyus sensu lato was divided into two genera, with P. polystachyus var. polystachyus and var. arthrotrichus remaining as P. polystachyus and var. longistachyus and var. pullenii erected as the new species Polystachyus giganteus.