Skip to main content

Service Notice

The Western Australian Herbarium’s collections management system and census were set to read-only mode on 1 October 2025. Taxonomic updates published since this time are not being reflected in Florabase, herbarium collections, or Western Australia’s taxonomic names census (Nomos). Conservation listings displayed on Florabase may also be out of date. Please refer to DBCA’s Threatened species and communities webpage for the most recent Threatened and Priority Flora List, noting that recent taxonomic updates are similarly not included. Our database migration is moving to a staging phase. We thank you for your patience as we ensure the integrity of our biodiversity data, develop new workflows, and train staff to use the new systems. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

The notice period started at 12:00 pm on Wednesday, 1 October 2025 +08:00 and will end at 12:00 pm on Friday, 1 January 2027 +08:00.

Advanced Search

Bursaria Cav.

Reference
Icon. 30 (1797)
Name Status
Current
Image

Scientific Description

Common name. Bursarias. Family Pittosporaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Small trees, or shrubs; evergreen. Plants spiny (branch and branchlets). To 1–12 m high. Mesophytic. Not heterophyllous. Leaves small; alternate (or clustered); spiral; petiolate; simple. Leaf blades dorsiventral; entire; linear, or ovate, or obovate, or elliptic (or cuneate). Mature leaf blades adaxially glabrous; abaxially glabrous, or pubescent. Leaf blade margins entire (or emarginate), or serrate (rarely).

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

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary, or aggregated in ‘inflorescences’. Inflorescence few-flowered, or many-flowered. Flowers in racemes, or in panicles. Inflorescences terminal, or axillary. Flowers pedicellate; bracteate; small; regular; 5 merous; tetracyclic. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 10; 2 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx present; 5; 1 -whorled; polysepalous; hairy, or glabrous; exceeded by the corolla; persistent, or not persistent. Corolla present; 5; 1 -whorled; polypetalous (spreading from the base); imbricate; regular; plain; white, or cream. Petals oblong. Androecium present. Androecial members definite in number. Androecium 5. Androecial members free of the perianth; free of one another. Stamens 5; all more or less similar in shape; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous; all alternating with the corolla members. Anthers all alike; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; tetrasporangiate. Fertile gynoecium present. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; eu-syncarpous; superior. Ovary plurilocular; 2 locular; shortly stipitate. Ovary summit glabrous, or hairy, the hairs not confined to radiating bands. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1. Stigmas 1. Placentation parietal. Ovules 30–50 per locule (i.e. ‘many’).

Fruit and seed features. Fruit 5–15 mm long; shortly stipitate; non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule (purse-like). Capsules loculicidal. Dispersal unit the seed. Fruit 10–50 seeded (few to many). Seeds compressed (flat; reniform or orbicular); wingless.

Geography, cytology, number of species. World distribution: Australia. Native of Australia. Endemic to Australia. Australian states and territories: Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, and Tasmania. South-West Botanical Province. A genus of 6 species; 1 species in Western Australia.

Additional comments. Etymology: from Latin bursa, a pouch; alluding to the fruit.

Etymology. From the Latin for "bag or satchel"; refers to the fruit.