 Voucher: Haegi 1780 , Coolgardie, WA. Photo: L. Haegi © L. Haegi |
 Line drawing by M. Perkins (from L.Haegi, unpubl. thesis). |
Synonymy
Cyphanthera odgersii (F. Muell.) Haegi, Telopea 2: 177 (1981) subsp. odgersii
Anthocercis odgersii F. Muell., Fragm. Phytogr. Austral. 10: 19 (1876).
T: [Queen] Victoria Spring, W.A., Young s.n.; syn: MEL.
Description
Shrub to 1 m, greyish. Branches densely woolly-tomentose with mainly branched, non-glandular hairs, with some glandular hairs; hairs to 2 mm long.
Leaves broadly to narrowly ovate-elliptic, almost sessile, 11–20 mm long 7–13 mm wide, woolly-tomentose.
Flowers in dense clusters, often forming leafy spikes; pedicels 0.5–2 mm long. Calyx 4–7 mm long, pubescent in lower half, woolly above. Corolla 5.5–8.5 mm long, sparsely pubescent outside, densely pubescent inside, white, the striations purple; lobes ovate to broadly ovate, 2–2.5 mm long. Stamens 1.3–3 mm long; filaments pubescent at base with glandular and non-glandular hairs.
Capsule ellipsoid to ovoid, 3–5 mm long. Seeds 2.8–3.4 mm long.
Distribution and ecology
Occurs from the Queen Victoria Spring area, in the far south-western Great Victoria Desert, westwards to Coolgardie, with isolated occurrences near Mt Magnet and Southern Cross, W.A.
Occurs on sand plains and sand dunes. Sometimes in disturbed or burnt sites.
Notes
Distinct from subsp. occidentalis by its shorter leaves, longer corolla lobes and shorter (to 2 mm long vs 1-6.5 mm long) hairs on the branches.
Phylogeny
Phylogenetic studies by Garcia & Olmstead (2003) on the Tribe Anthocercideae using two chloroplast DNA regions included this species The studies indicated that Cyphanthera is not monophyletic. Cyphanthers odgersii showed a closer relationship to Grammosolen while the rest of the Cyphanthera species combined to form a clade with Duboisia and Crenidium.
Reference: V.F.Garcia & R.G.Olmstead (2003). Phylogenetics of Tribe Anthocercideaea (Solanaceae) based on ndhF and trnL/F sequence data. Systematic Botany 28: 609-615.
Selected specimens
W.A.: c. 90 km WSW of Coolgardie, R.J. Chinnock 3098 (AD, MO, PERTH); c. 90 km SW of Coolgardie, L. Haegi 1780 (BRI, F, NSW, PERTH); c. 20 km E of Zanthus, E. Wittwer W1977 (PERTH).
Derivation of epithet
Named for William Odgers, a correpondent of Mueller.
Images and information on web
An image of C. odgersii ssp. odgersii can be seen on the Canberra Botanic Gardens site at http://www.anbg.gov.au/images/photo_cd/J01112585F5/038.html
Pharmacology: A discussion of the tropane alkaloids which occur in Cyphanthera and other Anthocercideae can be found in Griffith & Lin (2000).
Ref: W.J. Griffin & G.D. Lin (2000). Chemotaxonomy and geographical distribution of tropane alkaloids. Phytochemistry 53: 627–628.
Plant status (if any)
Without any declared rating in W.A. – see http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/conservationtaxa