Goodenia centralis facts for kids

Goodenia centralis is a type of flowering plant found only in central Australia. It belongs to the Goodeniaceae plant family. This plant is a low-growing annual herb. This means it lives for only one growing season and has soft, green stems. Its leaves are shaped like a spatula or an egg, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. The edges of the leaves have coarse teeth. The plant produces yellow flowers with pretty purple veins, which grow in clusters called racemes.

What Goodenia centralis Looks Like

Goodenia centralis is a low-growing plant that lives for about a year. Its stems can grow up to about half a meter long. They are mostly smooth, without hairs.

The leaves are shaped like a spatula or an egg. They are wider at the top and get narrower towards the bottom. These leaves are usually between 30 and 100 millimeters long, and 15 to 30 millimeters wide. Their edges have rough, tooth-like bumps.

The flowers grow in long clusters called racemes, which can be up to 600 millimeters long. Each flower sits on a small stalk called a pedicel, which is 1 to 2 millimeters long. At the base of each flower's stalk, there are small, leaf-like parts called bracteoles.

The plant has small green parts at the base of the flower called sepals, which are about 2 millimeters long. The main parts of the flower are the petals, which are yellow with purple lines. These petals are 12 to 15 millimeters long. The lower parts of the flower's petals are about 5 millimeters long and have flat, wing-like edges about 1.5 millimeters wide.

This plant usually flowers from June to September. After flowering, it produces a fruit that is a dry, oval-shaped seed pod called a capsule. The capsule is about 8 millimeters long.

How Goodenia centralis Got Its Name

The plant Goodenia centralis was officially described in 1980. This was done by a scientist named Roger Charles Carolin. He wrote about it in a science journal called Telopea. The plant material he studied was collected in 1958 by George Chippendale near Irving Creek in the Petermann Ranges in the Northern Territory.

The second part of its name, centralis, tells us something important. It's a Latin word that means "central." This name was chosen because the plant grows in the central parts of Australia.

Where Goodenia centralis Lives

This type of goodenia plant grows in the desert areas of central Australia. You can find it in central-eastern Western Australia, the south-western Northern Territory, and northern South Australia.

It likes to grow in areas with woodlands, which are like small forests. It also grows in tussock grasslands, which are areas with clumps of grass. It prefers sandy soil in these desert environments.

Conservation Status of Goodenia centralis

It's good news for Goodenia centralis! This plant is not considered to be in danger.

The Government of Western Australia's Department of Parks and Wildlife says it is "not threatened." This means there are plenty of these plants around.

Also, the Northern Territory Government says it is of "least concern" under their Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1976. This means it's not at risk of disappearing.