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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.

Abutilon malvifolium (Benth.) J.M.Black
Bastard Marshmallow

Reference
Trans.& Proc.Roy.Soc.South Australia 49:274 (1925)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Prostrate to upright perennial, herb or shrub, 0.03-0.3 m high. Fl. yellow, Sep. Calcareous soils. Clay flats, crabhole plains.

Amanda Spooner, Descriptive Catalogue, 10 July 2003

Scientific Description

Shrub, with hairy stems. Leaves 20-35 mm long, 10-30 mm wide, not lobed or tripartitely lobed, simply (once-)lobed; margins crenate; hairy, with stellate hairswith scales absent, Sessile glands absent; stipules present but early deciduous (only visible on youngest leaves). Calyx green, 6 mm long, the lobes fused less than half their length, Terminal appendages absent, number of ribs absent. Corolla yellow, 5 mm long, glabrous. Indumentum (outside) Sessile glands absent. Fruits not accrescent. Flowering time September. Distribution Botanical Province Northern or Eremaean, IBRA Bioregion Pilbara, Yalgoo and Ord-Victorian-Plain.

C. Hollister and K.R. Thiele, 11 August 2023

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Central Ranges, Gascoyne, Ord Victoria Plain, Pilbara, Yalgoo.
IBRA Subregions
Augustus, Chichester, Edel, Fortescue, Hamersley, Mann-Musgrave Block, Purnululu, Roebourne, South Kimberley Interzone.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Ashburton, East Pilbara, Halls Creek, Karratha, Ngaanyatjarraku, Shark Bay, Upper Gascoyne.