Helicteres sp. Mertens Falls (K.F. Kenneally 7887)

Scientific Description

Shrub or tree, with hairy stems. Leaves 35-75 mm long, 8-25 mm wide, not lobed; margins entire; hairy, with absent, with stellate hairswith scales absent, Sessile glands absent; stipules present but early deciduous (only visible on youngest leaves). Perianth clearly of two whorls (calyx and corolla), the corolla obvious and prominent. Pedicel present, 1.5 mm long; indumentum present, with stellate hairs present, with scales absent. Epicalyx (extra segments or 'bracteoles' immediately below the calyx) absent. Calyx 4.3 mm long, the lobes fused less than half their length, Sessile glands absent, simple hairs (without tubercle bases) absent, stellate hairs present, tubercle-based simple hairs absent, gland-tipped hairs absent, scales absent, Terminal appendages absent, number of ribs absent. Corolla mauve, 6 mm long, glabrous. Indumentum (outside) Sessile glands absent. Stamens many, united and arising from a staminal tube around the style; filaments present, 0.7 mm long; anthers 0.3 mm long, indumentum absent (anthers glabrous). Staminodes present, appendages absent. Ovary hairs and scales absent (ovary quite glabrous); styles several, free and separate, arising from the summit of the ovary, 1.4 mm long, with one or five style branches or lobes, mostly glabrous, wing absent. Fruits dehiscent (capsules and follicles), length-width ratio more or less as long as wide, hairs or scales present, simple hairs (without tubercle bases) absent, stellate hairs present, Sessile glands absent, tubercle-based simple hairs absent, gland-tipped hairs absent, scales absent; apex rounded; prickles absent (except perhaps a terminal awn); terminal awns or spines present; calyx persistent to mature fruit, not accrescent; carpels 5; seeds per loculus ≥5. Flowering time March. Distribution Botanical Province Northern, IBRA Bioregion North Kimberley. Conservation Code Priority Three (P3).