White root
Cultivated specimen of Lobelia purpurascens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Campanulaceae
Genus: Lobelia
Species:
L. purpurascens
Binomial name
Lobelia purpurascens
Synonyms[1]
  • Lobelia ilicifolia Sims
  • Pratia puberula f. arguta E.Wimm.
  • Pratia purpurascens (R.Br.) E.Wimm.
  • Rapuntium purpurascens (R.Br.) C.Presl

Lobelia purpurascens, commonly known as white root[2] or purplish pratia,[3] is a flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae of eastern Australia. It is a small herbaceous, scrambling plant with white to pale pink flowers.

Description

Lobelia purpurascens is a small, smooth herb usually less than 12 cm (4.7 in) high with ascending or more or less prostrate stems, usually 30 cm (12 in) long with white rhizomes. The leaves are arranged alternately, more or less sessile, elliptic to oval shaped, 10–25 mm (0.39–0.98 in) long and 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) wide, margins toothed and the undersurface usually purplish coloured on a petiole up to 2 mm (0.079 in) long. The single flowers are borne in leaf axils on a pedicel 1–7 cm (0.39–2.76 in) long, corolla pale mauve-pink, bluish or white, 8–10 mm (0.31–0.39 in) long, lower petals oblong-rounded, upper petals upright, tapering to a point, curved inward and smaller than upper petals. Flowering occurs from November to May and the fruit 3–10 mm (0.12–0.39 in) long, 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) wide and smooth.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

Lobelia purpurascens was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis 1802-1805.[5][6] The specific epithet (purpurascens) means "purplish".[7]

Distribution and habitat

White root grows mostly in shady, moist situations in woodland and grasslands in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Lobelia purpurascens". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Wiecek, Barbara. "Lobelia purpurascens". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  3. 1 2 Stajsic, Val. "Lobelia purpurascens". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  4. ↑ Fairley, Alan; Moore, Philip (2010). Native Plants of the Sydney Region (3 ed.). Crows Nest: Jacana Books. p. 431. ISBN 9781741755718.
  5. ↑ "Lobelia purpurascens". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  6. ↑ Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis 1802-1805. London. p. 563.
  7. ↑ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 287. ISBN 9780958034180.
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