Commersonia corniculata

Commersonia corniculata is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is an erect to prostrate shrub with 3-lobed, egg-shaped leaves, and white to cream-coloured flowers.

Commersonia corniculata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Malvaceae
Genus:	Commersonia
Species:	C. corniculata
Binomial name
Commersonia corniculata (Sm.) K.A.Sheph. & C.F.Wilkins[1]
Synonyms[1]
List Commerconia cygnorum F.Muell. orth. var. Commersonia cygnorum Steud. Lasiopetalum corniculatum Sm. Restiaria cygnorum (Steud.) Kuntze Ruelingia cygnorum C.A.Gardner orth. var. Ruelingia malvifolia Diels & E.Pritz. orth. var. Rulingia cygnorum (Steud.) C.A.Gardner Rulingia malvaefolia Steetz orth. var. Rulingia malvifolia Steetz nom. illeg., nom. superfl.

Description

Commersonia corniculata is an erect to prostrate shrub that typically grows to 0.3–2 m (1 ft 0 in – 6 ft 7 in) high and 0.4–2 m (1 ft 4 in – 6 ft 7 in) wide and its new growth densely covered with white, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped, 8–20 mm (0.31–0.79 in) long and 4–16 mm (0.16–0.63 in) wide on a petiole 1–5 mm (0.039–0.197 in) long with stipules 1–6 mm (0.039–0.236 in) long at the base. The edges of the leaves have 3 lobes and sometimes a heart-shaped base and are rolled under, the lower surface densely covered with star-shaped hairs. The flowers are arranged in clusters of 5 to 15 up to 30 mm (1.2 in) long on a peduncle 4–14 mm (0.16–0.55 in) long, each flower 5–12 mm (0.20–0.47 in) in diameter on a pedicel 1–6 mm (0.039–0.236 in) long. The flowers have five white to cream-coloured, petal-like sepals, five white petals with a linear ligule about the same length as the sepals, and a single white staminode between each pair of stamens. Flowering occurs from August to December and the fruit is a spherical capsule 12–15 mm (0.47–0.59 in) in diameter.^[2]

Taxonomy

Commersonia corniculata was first formally described as Lasiopetalum corniculatum in 1822 by the English botanist James Edward Smith, from material gathered at King George Sound by Archibald Menzies.^[3][4] In 2018, Kelly Anne Shepherd and Carolyn Wilkins examined the material and determined that it matched the later described species, Commersonia cygnorum (described by Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel in 1845).^[5] Since Lasiopetalum corniculatum is the first legitimate description of the plant, the name needed to be changed to Commersonia corniculata.^[6]

The specific epithet (corniculata) means "corniculate", referring to the tips of the petals.^[7]

Distribution and habitat

This species grows in woodland, heath and between granite boulders in near coastal areas south of Perth, from Busselton to Walpole-Nornalup National Park and near Esperance in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren bioregions of south-western Western Australia.^[2][8]

Conservation status

Commersonia corniculata is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.^[8]