{{Short description|Family of shrubs}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Ptilotus_rotundifolius.jpg |image_caption = ''Ptilotus rotundifolius'' (F.Muell.) F.Muell. |taxon = Ptilotus |authority = R.Br.<ref name="powo" /> |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision = 125; see List of ''Ptilotus'' species |subdivision_ref = <ref name = powo>[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1280-1 ''Ptilotus'' R.Br.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240708124753/https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1280-1 |date=2024-07-08 }} ''Plants of the World Online''. Retrieved 3 April 2024.</ref> |synonyms_ref = <ref name="powo" /> |synonyms = * ''Arthrotrichum'' {{small|F.Muell. (1863), not validly publ.}} * ''Dipteranthemum'' {{small|F.Muell. (1884)}} *''Gomotriche'' {{small|Turcz. (1849)}} *''Goniotriche'' {{small|Turcz. (1852)}} *''Hemisteirus'' {{small|F.Muell. (1853)}} *''Kelita'' {{small|A.R.Bean (2010)}} *''Trichinium'' {{small|R.Br. (1810)}} }}
'''''Ptilotus''''' is a genus of approximately 125 species of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae, and is endemic to Australia, apart from ''Ptilotus conicus''<ref name="powo1">{{cite web |title=''Ptilotus conicus'' |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:61227-1 |publisher=Plants of the World Online |access-date=10 December 2024 |archive-date=10 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241210081520/https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:61227-1 |url-status=live }}</ref> that also occurs in Malesia. Plants in the genus ''Ptilotus'' are annual or perennial herbs or shrubs with usually hairy spikes of compact spherical, oval or cylindrical flowers.
==Description== Plants in the genus ''Ptilotus'' are annual or perennial herbs or small shrubs, many covered with soft hairs. The leaves are arranged alternately, sometimes on branches and/or in a rosette at the base. The flowers are bisexual and borne in compact spherical to oval or cylindrical spikes, each flower with a membranous bract and two bracteoles at the base. There are five, equal, hairy, linear tepals and five stamens, sometimes up to three stamens reduced to sterile staminodes, fused into a cap surrounding the ovary. The fruit is a nut or utricle, surrounded by the remains of the perianth.<ref name="RBGV">{{cite web |last1=Walsh |first1=Neville G. |last2=Stajsic |first2=Val |title=''Ptilotus'' |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/15df3148-f61d-4c4b-8b01-7089e915e1b8 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |access-date=11 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="RBGS">{{cite web |last1=Jacobs |first1=Surrey W.F.L. |last2=Lapinpuro |first2=L. |title=''Ptilotus'' |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&showsyn=&dist=&constat=&lvl=gn&name=Ptilotus |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney |access-date=11 December 2024 |archive-date=26 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226015746/https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&showsyn=&dist=&constat=&lvl=gn&name=Ptilotus |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=FB>{{FloraBase|name=''Ptilotus''|id=21388}}</ref>
==Taxonomy== The genus ''Ptilotus'' was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in his ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae''.<ref name=APNI>{{cite web|title=''Ptilotus''|url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/489692|publisher=APNI|access-date=10 December 2024|archive-date=26 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226012414/https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/489692|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="R.Br.">{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Robert |title=Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van-Diemen |date=1810 |publisher=Typis R. Taylor et socii |location=London |page=415 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21871#page/283/mode/1up |access-date=10 December 2024 |archive-date=21 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250321094627/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21871#page/283/mode/1up |url-status=live }}</ref> The genus name means 'winged', particularly 'soft winged'.<ref name="Sharr">{{cite book |last1=Sharr |first1=Francis Aubi |last2=George |first2=Alex |title=Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, WA |isbn=9780958034180 |pages=107 |edition=3rd}}</ref>
In family-level phylogenetic studies, ''Ptilotus'' has been placed within a clade informally known as the 'aervoids'.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Müller|first1=K.|last2=Borsch|first2=T.|year=2005|title=Phylogenetics of Amaranthaceae based on matK/trnK sequence data: Evidence from parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian analyses|journal=Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard.|volume=92|pages=66–102}}</ref> It has been resolved as monophyletic and is closely related to ''Aerva'' Forssk.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Hammer|first1=Timothy A.|last2=Davis|first2=Robert W.|last3=Thiele|first3=Kevin R.|year=2015|title=A molecular framework phylogeny for ''Ptilotus'' (Amaranthaceae): Evidence for the rapid diversification of an arid Australian genus.|journal=Taxon|volume=64|issue=2|pages=272–285|doi=10.12705/642.6 |bibcode=2015Taxon..64..272H }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sage|first1=R.F.|last2=Sage|first2=T.L.|last3=Pearcy|first3=R.W.|last4=Borsch|first4=T.|year=2007|title=The taxonomic distribution of C4 photosynthesis in Amaranthaceae sensu stricto|journal=Am. J. Bot.|volume=94|issue=12|pages=1992–2003|doi=10.3732/ajb.94.12.1992|pmid=21636394}}</ref>
===Species list=== {{Main|List of Ptilotus species}}
==Distribution== Most species of ''Ptilotus'' occur in arid parts of Western Australia,<ref name="FB" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?taxa=ptilotus|title=''Ptilotus'' occurrence records|website=Australia's Virtual Herbarium|publisher=Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria|access-date=2017-01-21|archive-date=2017-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202012036/http://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?taxa=ptilotus|url-status=live}}</ref> but there are species in the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.<ref name="APC">{{cite web |title=''Ptilotus'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/76223 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=11 December 2024 |archive-date=26 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226012315/https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/76223 |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Gallery == <gallery> Image:Ptilotus exaltatus Pilbara.jpg|''Ptilotus exaltatus'' Nees Image:Ptilotus obovatus bisexual flower.jpg|''Ptilotus obovatus'' (Gaudich.) F.Muell. Image:Ptilotus eriotrichus.jpg|''Ptilotus eriotrichus'' (Gaudich.) F.Muell. Image:Ptilotus stirlingii.jpg|''Ptilotus stirlingii'' (Lindl.) F.Muell. subsp. ''stirlingii'' Image:Ptilotus declinatus.jpg|''Ptilotus declinatus'' Nees Image:Ptilotus fusiformis.jpg|''Ptilotus fusiformis'' (R.Br.) Poir. Image:Ptilotus nobilis.jpg|''Ptilotus nobilis'' (Lindl.) F.Muell Image:Ptilotus appendiculatus.jpg|''Ptilotus appendiculatus'' Benl Image:Ptilotus latifolius.jpg|''Ptilotus latifolius'' R.Br. Image:Ptilotus drummondii.jpg|''Ptilotus drummondii'' (Moq.) F.Muell. Image:Ptilotus_macrocephalus2.jpg|''Ptilotus xerophilus'' T.Hammer & R.W.Davis Image:Ptilotus_rotundifolius2.jpg|''Ptilotus rotundifolius'' (F.Muell.) F.Muell. </gallery>
==References== {{Wikicommons}} {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q146942}}
Category:Ptilotus Category:Amaranthaceae genera Category:Flora of the Australasian realm Category:Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)