Goodenia gypsicola facts for kids

Goodenia gypsicola is a type of flowering plant. It belongs to the Goodeniaceae family. This plant grows only in certain areas of salt lakes in inland Australia. It's a plant that lives for many years. It has leaves shaped like spatulas. Its flowers are pale blue and grow in clusters called racemes.

What it Looks Like

Goodenia gypsicola is a plant that grows in clumps. It can reach about 60 centimeters (2 feet) tall. Sometimes, one plant can have up to a hundred leaves!

Its leaves are shaped like a spatula. They can be up to 30 millimeters (about 1.2 inches) long. They are also about 10 millimeters (0.4 inches) wide. Some leaves might have two or three small rounded parts, called lobes.

The pale blue flowers grow in long clusters called racemes. These clusters can be 200 to 350 millimeters (8 to 14 inches) long. Each flower sits on a small stalk called a pedicel. This stalk is about 5.5 to 7 millimeters long. At the base of the flower, there are small leaf-like parts called bracts. These bracts are 10 to 30 millimeters long.

The sepals, which are like small leaves protecting the flower bud, are about 1.5 millimeters long. The petals, which form the main part of the flower, are pale blue. They are about 6 millimeters long. This plant usually blooms in October.

Naming the Plant

How it Got its Name

The plant Goodenia gypsicola was officially described in 2000. It was named by a scientist named David Eric Symon. He wrote about it in a science journal called Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

The second part of its name, gypsicola, tells us something special. It means "gypsum-inhabiting." This is because the plant likes to grow in areas with gypsum.

Where it Grows

Habitat and Location

This goodenia plant grows in places where there is solid gypsum. Gypsum is a soft mineral. You can find it in scattered salt lakes in Western Australia. It also grows in the Serpentine Lakes area of South Australia.

Protecting the Plant

Conservation Status

The Government of Western Australia's Department of Parks and Wildlife has looked at Goodenia gypsicola. They have decided it is "not threatened." This means the plant is not currently in danger of disappearing.