# Androcalva microphylla > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Androcalva_microphylla > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Androcalva_microphylla.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androcalva_microphylla > Source revision: 1258918725 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Species of shrub}} {{Speciesbox | name = | image = Androcalva microphylla.jpg | image_caption = | status = | status_system = | genus = Androcalva | species = microphylla | authority = ([Benth.](/source/Benth.)) [C.F.Wilkins](/source/Carolyn_F._Wilkins) & [Whitlock](/source/Barbara_Ann_Whitlock){{cite web |title=''Androcalva microphylla'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/236032|website=Australian Plant Census |access-date=26 April 2023}} | synonyms_ref = | synonyms = * ''Commerconia microphylla'' F.Muell. [orth. var.](/source/orth._var.) * ''Commersonia microphylla'' Benth. * ''Restiaria microphylla'' (Benth.) [Kuntze](/source/Otto_Kuntze) }} '''''Androcalva microphylla''''' is a species of flowering plant in the family [Malvaceae](/source/Malvaceae) and is [endemic](/source/endemic) to the [south-west](/source/Southwest_Australia) of Western Australia. It is an open, straggling shrub with egg-shaped to oblong leaves with a heart-shaped base, and clusters of 5 to 7 white and dark red flowers. ==Description== ''Androcalva microphylla'' is an open, straggling, low-growing shrub that typically grows to {{cvt|0.8–2|m}} high and {{cvt|1–3|m}} wide, its new growth covered with yellowish star-shaped hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped to oblong with a heart-shaped base, {{cvt|1–8|mm}} long and {{cvt|1–7|mm}} wide on a [petiole](/source/Petiole_(botany)) {{cvt|1–2|mm}} long with narrow [stipule](/source/stipule)s {{cvt|1–3|mm}} long at the base. The edges of the leaves have irregular, rounded lobes, the upper surface with impressed veins, the lower surface covered with white, star-shaped hairs. The flowers are arranged in clusters of 5 to 7 on a [peduncle](/source/Peduncle_(botany)) {{cvt|5–15|mm}} long, each flower {{cvt|5–10|mm}} in diameter, on a [pedicel](/source/Pedicel_(botany)) {{cvt|2–7|mm}} long, with shaggy-hairy [bract](/source/bract)s at the base. The flowers have 5 white, petal-like [sepal](/source/sepal)s with a dark red base, and 5 petals with a round [ligule](/source/ligule). There are usually 3 tiny [staminode](/source/staminode)s between each pair of [stamen](/source/stamen)s. Flowering occurs from August to November, and the fruit is a more or less spherical [capsule](/source/Capsule_(fruit)) {{cvt|6–10|mm}} in diameter.{{cite book |last1=Blake |first1=Trevor L. |title=Lantern bushes of Australia ; Thomasias & allied genera : a field and horticultural guide |date=2021 |publisher=Australian Plants Society, Keilor Plains Group |location=Victoria |isbn=9780646839301 |pages=130–131}} ==Taxonomy== This species was first formally described in 1863 by [George Bentham](/source/George_Bentham) who gave it the name ''Commersonia microphylla'' in ''[Flora Australiensis](/source/Flora_Australiensis)'', from specimens collected by [James Drummond](/source/James_Drummond_(botanist)) near the [Murchison River](/source/Murchison_River%2C_Western_Australia).{{cite web |title=''Commersonia microphylla'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/488052 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=26 April 2023}}{{cite book |last1=Bentham |first1=George |title=Flora Australiensis |volume=1 |date=1863 |publisher=Lovell Reeve & Co. |location=London |page=244 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/3669#page/302/mode/1up |access-date=27 April 2023}} In 2011, [Carolyn Wilkins](/source/Carolyn_F._Wilkins) and [Barbara Whitlock](/source/Barbara_Ann_Whitlock) transferred the species to ''Androcalva'' as ''A. microphylla'' in ''[Australian Systematic Botany](/source/Australian_Systematic_Botany)''.{{cite web|title=''Androcalva microphylla''|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/726923|publisher=APNI|access-date=26 April 2023}} The [specific epithet](/source/Botanical_name) (''microphylla'') means "small leaves". ==Distribution and habitat== ''Androcalva microphylla'' mostly grows in open shrubland between the Murchison River and [Eurardy Station](/source/Eurardy_Reserve) in the [Geraldton Sandplains](/source/Geraldton_Sandplains) and [Yalgoo](/source/Yalgoo_bioregion) bioregions of south-western Western Australia.{{FloraBase|name=''Androcalva microphylla''|id=40906}} ==Conservation status== ''Androcalva microphylla'' is listed as "[Priority Two](/source/Declared_Rare_and_Priority_Flora_List)" by the Western Australian Government [Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions](/source/Department_of_Biodiversity%2C_Conservation_and_Attractions_(Western_Australia)), meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.{{cite web|title=Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna|url=https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/plants-animals/threatened-species/Listings/Conservation%20code%20definitions.pdf|publisher=Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife|accessdate=27 April 2023}} ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q17579636}} Category:Malvales of Australia Category:Flora of Western Australia Category:Plants described in 1863 microphylla Category:Taxa named by George Bentham --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Androcalva microphylla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androcalva_microphylla) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androcalva_microphylla?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.