Androcalva microphylla (Benth.) C.F.Wilkins & Whitlock

Scientific Description

Shrub, with hairy stems. Leaves 2.5-15 mm long, 2.4-7 mm wide, tripartitely lobed or irregularly lobed, simply (once-)lobed; margins entire; hairy, with stellate hairswith scales absent, Sessile glands absent; stipules present but early deciduous (only visible on youngest leaves), 2-3 mm long. Perianth clearly of two whorls (calyx and corolla), the corolla obvious and prominent. Pedicel present, 3.5-7 mm long; indumentum present, with stellate hairs present, with gland tipped hairs present, with scales absent. Epicalyx (extra segments or 'bracteoles' immediately below the calyx) absent. Calyx cream or white, 3.5-7 mm long, the lobes fused less than half their length, Sessile glands absent, stellate hairs present, gland-tipped hairs present, scales absent, Terminal appendages absent, number of ribs absent. Corolla white, 2.2-3.4 mm long, glabrous. Indumentum (outside) Sessile glands absent. Stamens five, free and inserted at the base of the ovary; filaments present, 0.5-1 mm long; anthers 0.5-0.6 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, 0.7-0.8 mm long, with four 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 absent; calyx persistent to mature fruit, not accrescent; carpels 4; seeds per loculus 2-4. Flowering time August, September, October or November. Distribution Botanical Province Eremaean or South-West, IBRA Bioregion Yalgoo and Geraldton Sandplains. Conservation Code Priority Two (P2).