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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.

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Turnera L.

Reference
Sp.Pl. [Linnaeus] 1:271 (1753)
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Family Turneraceae.

Habit and leaf form. Low shrubs, or herbs. Leaves alternate; spiral; petiolate; simple. Leaf blades dorsiventral, or isobilateral; entire; pinnately veined; cross-venulate. Leaves without stipules (but with glands or floral nectaries at the base of the blade). Leaf blade margins dentate. Leaf anatomy. Hairs present. Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite. Plants heterostylous. Selfing or entomophilous.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary, or aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; when solitary, axillary; when aggregated, in racemes. Inflorescences epiphyllous (10 species). Flowers (bi-) bracteolate; regular; 5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium present; short to tubular. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla (without corona); 10; 2 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx present; 5; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous; lobed; toothed; imbricate; regular; not persistent. Corolla present; 5; 1 -whorled; polypetalous; contorted; regular; yellow; deciduous. Petals clawed. Androecial members definite in number. Androecium 5. Androecial sequence not determinable. Androecial members free of the perianth (but inserted low on the hypanthium); free of one another; 1 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5; attached inside the hypanthium; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous; all alternating with the corolla members. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse. Gynoecium 3 carpelled. The pistil 1 celled (placentae 3). Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious; superior. Ovary unilocular; 1 locular; sessile. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 3 (opposite the placentas); free; simple. Stigmas 3 (fringed); commissural (i.e. aligned with the placentas); dry type; non-papillate; Group II type. Placentation parietal. Ovules in the single cavity 25–100 (i.e. ‘many’); funicled; ascending; arillate (with an ostensibly funicular aril); anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule. Capsules valvular (each of the three valves with a median placenta). Fruit mostly many-seeded. Seeds oblong or cylindric, curved; copiously endospermic. Endosperm oily. Seeds arillate. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2 (planoconvex). Embryo straight. Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar.