Skip to main content

Service Notice

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.

The notice period started at 9:45 am on Friday, 12 December 2025 +08:00 and will end at 12:00 pm on Monday, 2 March 2026 +08:00.

Advanced Search

Enchylaena R.Br.

Reference
Prodr.Fl.Nov.Holland. 407 (1810)
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Common name. Barrier Saltbushes. Family Chenopodiaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Shrubs. Plants succulent; unarmed. Leaves cauline. Plants with a basal concentration of leaves, or with neither basal nor terminal concentrations of leaves. Stems not ‘jointed’. Young stems striate. Stem internodes solid. In slightly saline soils. Leaves minute to large; alternate; spiral, or distichous; fleshy; subsessile, or sessile; simple; epulvinate. Leaf blades entire; solid; terete, or semi-terete; ovate, or linear; attenuate at the base, or cuneate at the base, or rounded at the base. Leaves without stipules. Leaf blade margins entire. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. Leaf anatomy. Hydathodes present, or absent. Hairs present, or absent.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary; sessile; bracteate (1 or 2 minute bracts), or ebracteate; ebracteolate; minute, or small; regular; cyclic. Hypogynous disk present, or absent. Perianth sepaline; 5; 1 -whorled; joined (imbricate); fleshy, or non-fleshy; persistent; accrescent, or non-accrescent. Calyx present; not replaced by accrescent bracteoles; 5; gamosepalous; blunt-lobed; imbricate; cupuliform, or urceolate; fleshy; persistent (in the fruit); accrescent. The fruiting calyx berrylike; wingless, spineless and without tubercles. Corolla absent. Androecial members definite in number. Androecium 5. Androecial members free of the perianth, or adnate (to the base of the perianth); all equal; free of one another; 1 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5; all more or less similar in shape; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous. Anthers bent inwards in bud; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; tetrasporangiate. Gynoecium (2–)5 carpelled. The pistil 1 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious to synstylovarious; superior. Ovary unilocular; 1 locular; sessile. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 2–3; partially joined. Stigmas 3 (usually). Placentation basal. Ovules in the single cavity 1; pendulous, or ascending; non-arillate; campylotropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy (pericarp crustaceous above and membranous below, fruiting perianth succulent with a cartilaginous to woody inner layer); indehiscent; capsular-indehiscent, or a nut; enclosed in the fleshy perianth; 1 celled. Gynoecia of adjoining flowers combining to form a multiple fruit, or not forming a multiple fruit. Fruit 1 seeded. Seeds more or less non-endospermic. Perisperm present. Cotyledons 2. Embryo curved (annular).

Etymology. From the Greek for "juicy, succulent" and "cloak"; refers to the ripe fruiting perianth.