Family: Malvaceae
Abutilon
Citation:
Miller, Gard. Dict. abr. edn 4 (1754).
Derivation: Aubutilun, the name quoted by the Arabian physician Avicenna as belonging to this or some allied genus.
Synonymy: Not Applicable Common name: Lantern flowers.
Description:
Perennial shrubs or annual herbs, with mainly stellate hairs; leaves alternate, entire or more often crenate, ovate or obovate to orbicular, often cordate at the base.
Flowers bisexual, pedunculate in leaf axils, moderately conspicuous; epicalyx 0; calyx with 5 lobes longer or shorter than the tube; petals 5, cream or yellow; anthers numerous, on filaments arising from the top of a long tube; carpels 5-20, in a single whorl with 3-9 (rarely 2) ovules in each cell; styles with as many branches as carpels, slender or thickened towards the apex, fused below; stigmas confined to the tips of the styles.
Fruit separating wholly or largely into fruitlets, depressed above, the fruitlets opening in 2 valves which may be awned; seeds glabrous or pubescent.
Distribution:
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At least 100 species in warm parts of the world; about 30 in Australia. (Mitchell in Jessop (1981) Flora of central Australia, pp. 213-215.)
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Biology:
No text
Key to Species:
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1. Calyx lobes shorter than the tube |
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2. Peduncles longer than the petioles; ccorolla scarcely exceeding the calyx |
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A. cryptopetalum 1. |
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2. Peduncles shorter than the petioles; corolla at least twice the length of the calyx |
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A. leucopetalum 4. |
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1. Calyx lobes longer than the tube |
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3. Fruitlets distinctly awned |
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4. Capsule greater than 10 mm diam.; peduncles shorter than the petioles |
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A. theophrasti 9. |
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4. Capsule less than 10 mm diam.; peduncles at least as long as the petioles |
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5. Leaves usually acuminate, not lobed, up to 8 cm long; seeds glabrous |
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A. oxycarpum 8. |
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5. Leaves rounded, with 3-5 lobes; up to 4 cm long; seeds glabrous or pubescent |
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A. malvaefolium 6. |
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3. Fruitlets angular or rounded, not awned |
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6. Corolla about twice as long as the calyx |
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7. Capsule about as long as the calyx, 6-7 mm long; leaves crenate all round |
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A. fraseri 2. |
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7. Capsule about twice the length of the calyx, 10-12 mm long; leaves crenate except near the base |
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A. halophilum 3. |
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6. Corolla scarcely longer than the calyx |
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8. Leaves broadly crenate; capsule shorter than the calyx; seeds glabrous; calyx c. 12 mm long |
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A. otocarpum 7. |
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8. Leaves serrate; capsule longer than the calyx; seeds sparsely pubescent; calyx c. 4 mm long |
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A. macrum 5. |
Author:
Prepared by J. G. Reid
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