{{Short description|Species of shrub}} {{Speciesbox | name = | image = Androcalva multiloba 03.jpg | image_caption = | status = | status_system = | genus = Androcalva | species = multiloba | authority = (C.F.Wilkins & Whitlock) C.F.Wilkins & Whitlock<ref name="APC">{{cite web |title=''Androcalva multiloba'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/236033|website=Australian Plant Census |access-date=26 April 2023}}</ref> | synonyms_ref = <ref name="APC" /> | synonyms = * ''Commersonia multiloba'' <small>C.F.Wilkins & Whitlock</small> * ''Commersonia tatei'' <small>auct. non F.Muell. ex Tate: Jessop, J.P. & Toelken, H.R.</small> }}
'''''Androcalva multiloba''''' is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. It is a dwarf shrub with densely hairy, irregularly serrated, egg-shaped leaves, and up to 5 white and red flowers arranged opposite leaf axils or on the ends of branches.
==Description== ''Androcalva multiloba'' is a dwarf shrub that typically grows to {{cvt|15–50|cm}} high and {{cvt|30–100|cm}} wide, with a single stem at the base and spreading branches. The leaves are egg-shaped, {{cvt|1.5–20|mm}} long and {{cvt|1.2–7.5|mm}} wide on a petiole {{cvt|0.3–5.5|mm}} long with narrowly lance-shaped stipules {{cvt|1.0–5.3|mm}} long at the base but that fall off as the leaf matures. The leaves are arranged in small groups along the stems, the edges of the leaves with irregular serrations lobes on the edges. Both surfaces of the leaves are densely covered with star-shaped hairs. The flowers are arranged opposite the leaves or on the ends of branches in clusters of up to 5 on a peduncle {{cvt|2–7|mm}} long, each flower {{cvt|9–15|mm}} in diameter, on a pedicel {{cvt|2–5|mm}} long, with bracts {{cvt|1.8–4|mm}} long at the base. The flowers have 5 white, petal-like sepals with a green or pink base, and 5 petals with a spatula-shaped ligule that is shorter than the sepals. There are 3 staminodes between each pair of stamens. Flowering occurs from August to October, and the fruit is a softly-hairy capsule {{cvt|6–12|mm}} in diameter.<ref name="Muelleria">{{cite journal |last1=Wilkins |first1=Carolyn F. |last2=Whitlock |first2=Barbara A. |title=A new species of Commersonia (Malvaceae s.l.), from the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. |journal=Muelleria |date=2006 |volume=22 |pages=88–92 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/59480067#page/90/mode/1up |access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref><ref name="Blake">{{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=132–133}}</ref>
==Taxonomy== This species was first formally described in 2005 by Carolyn Wilkins and Barbara Whitlock who gave it the name ''Commersonia multiloba'' in the journal ''Muelleria'', from specimens they collected near Cowell in 2004.<ref name="APNI1">{{cite web |title=''Commersonia multiloba'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/603465 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref> In 2011, Wilkins and Whitlock transferred the species to ''Androcalva'' as ''A. multiloba'' in ''Australian Systematic Botany''.<ref name=APNI>{{cite web|title=''Androcalva multiloba''|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/726954|publisher=APNI|access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref> The specific epithet (''multiloba'') refers to the many serrated lobes on the edges of the leaves.<ref name="Muelleria" />
==Distribution and habitat== ''Androcalva multiloba'' grows with species of ''Melaleuca'' and ''Acacia'' in two populations on the northern part of the Eyre Peninsula in south-eastern South Australia.<ref name="Muelleria" /><ref name="Blake" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q17579635}}
Category:Malvales of Australia Category:Flora of South Australia Category:Plants described in 2005 multiloba Category:Taxa named by Carolyn F. Wilkins Category:Taxa named by Barbara Ann Whitlock