Goodenia halophila facts for kids

Goodenia halophila is a special kind of flowering plant. It belongs to the Goodeniaceae family. This plant is found only in northern Australia, which means it is endemic to that area. It's a delicate plant that grows new each year from seeds, so it's called an annual herb. It has leaves shaped like spoons or spears that grow in a bunch at its base. It also has tall or low-lying stems with yellow flowers. These flowers grow in groups called cymes.

What Goodenia halophila Looks Like

Goodenia halophila is a delicate plant that grows every year. It has a bunch of leaves at its base. From these leaves, stems grow either straight up or spread out low to the ground. These stems can be up to 350 millimeters (about 14 inches) long.

The leaves at the base are shaped like a spatula or a spear. They are narrower at the bottom. These leaves are usually 7 to 60 millimeters (about 0.3 to 2.4 inches) long and 2 to 18 millimeters (about 0.08 to 0.7 inches) wide. They often have edges that look like tiny teeth. The leaves on the stems are similar but smaller.

The flowers grow in groups called cymes along zig-zag shaped stems. Each flower has small, leaf-like parts called bracts near it. Each flower sits on a short stalk, or pedicel, about 10 millimeters (about 0.4 inches) long. The green parts that protect the flower bud, called sepals, are shaped like spears and are 1.7 to 2.5 millimeters long. The yellow petals are 7 to 10 millimeters long. The lower parts of the petals have thin, wing-like edges that are about 0.8 to 1.5 millimeters wide.

Goodenia halophila usually flowers from May to August. After flowering, it produces a fruit. This fruit is a capsule, which is a dry seed pod. It's shaped like an oval or a narrow oval, about 3 to 4 millimeters long and 2 millimeters wide.

Naming and Discovery

The scientific name Goodenia halophila was first officially described in 2002. This was done by a scientist named David Edward Albrecht. He wrote about it in a science journal called Nuytsia. The plants he studied were collected by another botanist, Peter Latz, in 1980 in the Northern Territory.

The second part of the plant's name, halophila, is very interesting! It comes from Greek words. "Halo" means "salt," and "phila" means "loving." So, halophila means "salt-loving." This name tells us that this goodenia plant likes to grow in salty places.

Where Goodenia halophila Lives

This goodenia plant grows in low-lying areas that have salty soil. You can find it in dry, desert-like parts of the Northern Territory. It also lives in the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia.

Protecting Goodenia halophila

The goodenia plant is listed as being of "least concern" by the Northern Territory Government. This means that it is not currently at high risk of disappearing.

However, in Western Australia, the government lists it as "Priority Three". This means that scientists don't know a lot about it, and it's only found in a few places. But, it's not in immediate danger of dying out right now.