Euphrasia arguta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Euphrasia arguta |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Euphrasia
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| Species: |
arguta
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| Synonyms | |
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Euphrasia scabra var. arguta |
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Euphrasia arguta is a special plant often called an "eyebright." It belongs to the Euphrasia group of plants, which are part of the Orobanchaceae plant family.
This plant was last seen in June 1904 near Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia. For a long time, people thought it had disappeared forever. But then, in 2008, a forest worker named Graham Marshall found it again in Nundle State Forest in New South Wales!
Some scientists think Euphrasia arguta might be a type of another threatened plant called Rough Eyebright (Euphrasia scabra). Long ago, the whole Euphrasia group was thought to be part of the Scrophulariaceae family. The famous botanist Robert Brown first described this plant in his important book, Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen, in 1810. Another sighting of the plant was reported from the Barrington Tops area in 2012.
What it Looks Like
This plant is an annual herb, which means it lives for about one year. It has a straight stem that grows to be about 20 to 35 centimeters tall. The stem is covered with many tiny hairs. Its leaves grow in pairs and have deep cuts or lobes. The leaves near the top of the stem are about six to fourteen millimeters long and 3.5 to 13 millimeters wide.
The plant produces many flowers, usually between 50 and 90, in a cluster called a raceme. The outer part of the flower, called the calyx, is often rough and measures about 5.5 to 7 millimeters long. The petals, known as the corolla, are ten to fourteen millimeters long. They can be white or lilac (a light purple color) and have yellow markings. The flower's tube is 6.7 to 8.5 millimeters long, and the parts that hold pollen, called anthers, are 0.9 to 1.7 millimeters long.
After flowering, the plant forms a fruit called a capsule. This capsule is 4 to 7.5 millimeters long and has bristles on its upper half. Like other eyebright plants, Euphrasia arguta is a partial parasite. This means it gets some of its food and water by connecting to the roots of other plants using a special root called a haustorium.
Euphrasia arguta usually blooms from October to January.
Where it Lives
This plant used to grow in grassy areas near rivers. It preferred places that were up to 700 meters above sea level and received about 600 millimeters of rain each year.
It was found in several natural areas, or ecoregions, in the Australian state of New South Wales. These areas include the North Coast, Northern Tablelands, Central Tablelands, North West Slopes, and Central West Slopes. Specifically, it was found in areas stretching from Bathurst to Walcha.
Its Conservation Status
In 1982, an Australian botanist named William R. Barker wrote a study about Euphrasia plants. He noted that Euphrasia arguta had not been seen for at least 75 years. Because of this, in 1997, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre listed it as "globally extinct" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants. This list helps track plants and animals that are at risk.
After the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act was passed in 2000, the Australian government officially listed Euphrasia arguta as extinct in July 2000.
However, on July 6, 2008, Ian MacDonald, who was the New South Wales Primary Industries Minister, announced exciting news! Forestry workers had found new examples of Euphrasia arguta in Nundle State Forest, New South Wales. This meant the plant was not extinct after all!
- Harden, Gwen J. (ed.) 1992. Flora of New South Wales vol 3. UNSW Press. ISBN: 0-86840-172-2
- Barker, William R. 1982. Taxonomic studies in Euphrasia L. (Scrophulariaceae). A revised infrageneric classification, and a revision of the genus in Australia in Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens
