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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 Herbarium team, working with the Biodiversity Information Office, now have the Nomos-hosted WACensus in production, and we will begin to update the flora and fungi for WA within the system soon. The Specify project team continues to test and streamline the new collections management system, and we expect this to be online in October. 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 Thursday, 1 October 2026 +08:00.

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Coldenia L.

Reference
Sp.Pl. [Linnaeus] 2:125 (1753)
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Family Boraginaceae (sometimes separated in Ehretiaceae).

Habit and leaf form. Prostrate herbs. Annual. Mesophytic. Leaves small; alternate; spiral; petiolate; non-sheathing; simple. Leaf blades entire; conspicuously asymmetric; obovate; pinnately veined; cross-venulate. Mature leaf blades adaxially pubescent; abaxially pubescent. Leaves without stipules. Leaf blade margins crenate. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. 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.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary; extra- axillary; subsessile; inconspicuously bracteate, or ebracteate; minute to small; regular; 4 merous; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk present. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 8; 2 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx present; 4; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous; lobed; lobulate, or blunt-lobed, or toothed; campanulate, or tubular; unequal but not bilabiate; persistent; non-accrescent. Calyx lobes ovate. Corolla present; 4; 1 -whorled; gamopetalous; lobed; toothed; imbricate, or valvate; obcampanulate; regular; glabrous abaxially; glabrous adaxially; white to cream. Androecial members definite in number. Androecium 5. Androecial sequence not determinable. Androecial members adnate (epipetalous); all equal; free of one another; 1 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5; remaining included; oppositisepalous; all alternating with the corolla members. Filaments glabrous. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate; unappendaged. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 4 celled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious to synstylovarious; superior. Ovary plurilocular (4-lobed); 4 locular (the ‘true’ locules with incomplete false septa). Locules partially secondarily divided by ‘false septa’. Gynoecium median; stylate. Styles 1, or 4 (-branched); partially joined; 4-branched (by dividing twice); apical. Stigmas 4 (1 on each style branch); 2–4 - lobed. Placentation axile to basal. Ovules 2 per locule; pendulous (rarely), or ascending; non-arillate; hemianatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit fleshy; a schizocarp. Mericarps 4; comprising nutlets. Fruit 4 seeded. Seeds endospermic, or non-endospermic.

Etymology. After Cadwallader Colden (1688–1776), Scottish physician, surveyor-general of New York and later lieutenant-governor; collected American plants for Linnaeus.