Seringia × katatona

Seringia × katatona
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Malvaceae
Genus:	Seringia
Species:	S. × katatona
Binomial name
Seringia × katatona (C.F.Wilkins) C.F.Wilkins & Whitlock[1]
Synonyms[1]
Keraudrenia exastia C.F.Wilkins

Seringia × katatona, commonly known as red dune fire-bush,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family and is endemic to northern Western Australia. It is an erect, compact, suckering shrub, with hairy young branches, egg-shaped to elliptic leaves and purple flowers arranged in groups of 9 to 17.

Description

Seringia × katatona is an erect, compact shrub with many stems, and that typically grows up to 0.5–1.0 m (1 ft 8 in – 3 ft 3 in) high, 1 m (3 ft 3 in) wide, and sometimes forms suckers. The leaves are arranged alternately, at first trilobed or egg-shaped, about 35 mm (1.4 in) long and 18 mm (0.71 in) wide, later oblong, 12–28 mm (0.47–1.10 in) long and 6–10 mm (0.24–0.39 in) wide on a petiole 2.5–6 mm (0.098–0.236 in) long with narrowly egg-shaped stipules 2.0–4.5 mm (0.079–0.177 in) long at the base. The flowers are arranged in a cyme 9–17 mm (0.35–0.67 in) long with 9 to 17 flowers on a peduncle 3–7 mm (0.12–0.28 in) long, each flower on a pedicel 7–11 mm (0.28–0.43 in) long. The flowers are purple with petal-like, broadly egg-shaped sepals 7–9 mm (0.28–0.35 in) and joined at the base to form a tube with lobes half the length of the tube. Petals are absent, the staminodes tiny, and the filaments and anthers are yellow. Flowering occurs from March to August.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy

In 1999, Carolyn F. Wilkins described Keraudrenia katatona in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected near the Broome airport in 1995.[3][5] In 2016, Wilkins and Barbara Ann Whitlock changed the name to Seringia × katatona in Australian Systematic Botany.[6] The specific epithet (katatona) means "broader than high", referring to the sepals.[7]

Distribution and habitat

Red dune fire-bush grows in red sand on desert dunes and is restricted to near Broome and near Port Hedland in the Dampierland and Great Sandy Desert bioregions of northern Western Australia.[2]

Conservation status

Seringia × katatona is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.[2]

References

1. "Seringia × katatona". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
2. "Seringia × katatona". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
3. Wilkins, Carolyn F. (1999). "Keraudrenia exastia and Keraudrenia katatona (Malvaceae: Byttnerioideae), new species from the Kimberley region of Western Australia". Nuytsia. 13 (1): 239–241. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
4. Blake, Trevor L. (2021). Lantern Bushes of Australia; Thomasias & Allied Genera. Australia: A.P.S. Keiler Plains Inc. pp. 416–417. ISBN 9780646839301.
5. "Keraudrenia katatona". APNI. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
6. "Seringia × katatona". APNI. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
7. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 230. ISBN 9780958034180.