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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. The project team is now conducting testing of the migrated data, and a further update will be provided by the end of the financial year (1 July). Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

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Polyaulax Backer

This name is not current. Find out more information on related names.

Reference
Blumea 5:492 (1942)
Name Status
Not Current

Scientific Description

Family Annonaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Shrubs. ‘Normal’ plants. Leaves well developed. Plants with roots; unarmed; autotrophic. To 8 m high (in Australia). Self supporting. Mesophytic. Not heterophyllous. Leaves medium-sized; alternate; distichous (in Australia); with blades; membranous (‘chartaceous’); petiolate; simple; not peltate; epulvinate. Leaf blades neither inverted nor twisted through 90 degrees; entire; flat; ovate, or elliptic. Mature leaf blades adaxially sparsely pubescent, or glabrous; abaxially sparsely pubescent, or glabrous. Leaves without stipules. Leaf blade margins entire; flat. Leaf anatomy. Hairs absent, or present.

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

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary; axillary; shortly pedicellate; small; regular; not resupinate; 3 merous; cyclic; pentacyclic. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 9; 3 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx present; 3; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous. Calyx lobes markedly longer than the tube. Calyx brown hairy; valvate; regular. Calyx lobes broadly ovate. Corolla present; 6; 2 -whorled; polypetalous; valvate; appressed hairy abaxially; glabrous adaxially; green to cream to yellow (in Australia). Petals oblong (in Australia). Androecium present. Fertile stamens present. Androecial members indefinite in number. Androecium 100 (‘numerous’). Androecial members free of one another. Stamens 100 (‘numerous’); polystemonous. Anthers separate from one another; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; tetrasporangiate. Fertile gynoecium present. Gynoecium 6–8 carpelled. Carpels increased in number relative to the perianth. Gynoecium apocarpous; eu-apocarpous; partly inferior. Carpel non-stylate (‘stigma sessile’); 6 ovuled, or 7 ovuled.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit 15–28 mm long (in Australia). The fruiting carpel indehiscent. Dispersal unit the seed. Fruit 4–9 seeded.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Native of Australia. Not endemic to Australia. Australian states and territories: Western Australia and Queensland. Northern Botanical Province. A genus of 1 species; 1 species in Western Australia; P. cylindrocarpa (Burck) Backer; 0 endemic to Western Australia.