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The Western Australian Herbarium’s collections management system, WAHerb, and DBCA’s flora taxonomic names application, WACensus, have been set to read-only mode since 1 October 2025. Recent taxonomic changes are not currently being reflected in Florabase, herbarium collections, or the census. Due to the rapidly approaching holiday season and associated agency and facility soft closures, along with the substantial work involved in data mapping, cleaning, and verification, the migration to the new collection management software is not expected to occur before 1 March 2026, when a further update will be provided. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

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Xerolirion A.S.George

Reference
Fl.Australia 46:229, fig. 24. (0)
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Family Dasypogonaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Herbs (caespitose). Perennial. Leaves basal and cauline. Plants with a basal concentration of leaves (more or less acaulescent), or with neither basal nor terminal concentrations of leaves; rhizomatous (short). Pachycaul. Mesophytic, or xerophytic. Leaves small to large; alternate; distichous; leathery, or modified into spines, or ‘herbaceous’; sessile; sheathing. Leaf sheaths not tubular; with free margins. Leaves simple. Leaf blades entire; acicular, or linear; linear (gradually tapering to the apex); parallel-veined; without cross-venules; closely sheathing the stem; sheath 7-nerved; margins scarious, often splitting away. Leaves without stipules. Vegetative anatomy. Plants without silica bodies. Leaf anatomy. Hairs present. Extra-floral nectaries absent.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers functionally male, or functionally female. Unisexual flowers present. Plants dioecious. Female flowers solitary. Male flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; with pistillodes.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary, or aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; when solitary, terminal; the male inflorescence in cymes. Inflorescences scapiflorous, or not scapiflorous; terminal; infloresence small, of 1–3 male flowers. Flowers pedicellate; ebracteate; ebracteolate; small; regular; 3 merous; cyclic. Perigone tube present, or absent. Free hypanthium short. Hypogynous disk absent. Perianth of ‘tepals’; 6; 2 -whorled; isomerous; petaloid (in male flowers); similar in the two whorls, or different in the two whorls; white; fleshy, or non-fleshy. Fertile stamens present, or absent. Androecial members definite in number. Androecium 6. Androecial members adnate; all equal; free of one another; 2 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 6 (in 2 whorls); all more or less similar in shape; diplostemonous; on the perianth. Anthers dorsifixed to basifixed; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse. Pollen shed as single grains. Fertile gynoecium present, or absent (male flowers). Gynoecium 3 carpelled. The pistil 3 celled. Carpels isomerous with the perianth. Gynoecium syncarpous; eu-syncarpous; superior. Ovary plurilocular; 3 locular. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1; attenuate from the ovary, or from a depression at the top of the ovary; apical. Stigmas 1; 3 - lobed. Placentation axile. Ovules 1 per locule; non-arillate; anatropous to campylotropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent, or indehiscent; a capsule, or capsular-indehiscent; 1 seeded. Seeds endospermic. Embryo well differentiated. Testa without phytomelan.