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Electronic Flora of South Australia genus Fact Sheet

Family: Haloragaceae
Glischrocaryon

Citation: Endl., Ann. Wien. Mus. 2:209 (1838).

Derivation: Greek glischros, gluey, clammy, slippery; caryon, nut; the genus was erroneously thought to belong to the Santalaceae, several of which have succulent fruits.

Synonymy: Loudonia Lindley, Sketch Veg. Swan Riv. Col. xlii (1840).

Common name: Golden pennants.

Description:
Glabrous erect perennial herbs 10-100 cm tall; rootstock woody, bearing numerous unbranched annual stems; stems smooth, soft, often almost leafless; leaves alternate, often deciduous, terete to narrowly lanceolate or linear, 1-6 cm long, entire, juvenile leaves often shorter and narrower than adult ones.

Inflorescence a terminal usually flat-topped cyme, made up of compound dichasia of 7-63 flowers; bracts similar to leaves, 5-10 mm long; bracteoles similar, 1-2 mm long; flowers yellow or cream, 2- or 4- merous (rarely 3-merous) on filamentous pedicels 1-3 mm long; sepals 2 or 4, deltoid, smooth, free or decurrent as wings of the ovary; petals 2 or 4, boat-shaped or hooded; stamens 4 or 8; filaments c. 0.5 mm long; anthers linear-oblong, 1.5-3 mm long, 4-celled, usually shortly apiculate; styles 2 or 4, clavate, stigmas capitate, shortly fimbriate; ovary ovoid to pear-shaped and broadest distally, 2-4-winged, 0.9-3.5 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide (including the wings), 1-locular, with 4 pendulous ovules.

Fruit cream or yellow (sometimes reddish), ovoid to obovoid (flattened in G. behrii), 2-4-winged or -ribbed, the wings decurrent on the sepals and pedicel, wings membranous, pericarp between the wings swollen or membranous; seed 1.

Distribution:  4 species confined to S.Aust., W.Aust., south-western N.T., Vic. and southern N.S.W. (Orchard (1975) Bull. Auckland Inst. Mus. 10:150-163).

Biology: No text

Key to Species:
1. Flowers and fruits 4-merous
 
2. Petals boat-shaped with tips reflexed in bud; flowers usually cream
G. flavescens 3.
2. Petals hooded, tips not reflexed in bud; flowers deep-yellow to reddish
G. aureum 1.
1. Flowers and fruits 2-merous
G. behrii 2.

Author: Not yet available


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