Muniria angustisepala facts for kids

The Muniria angustisepala is a type of flowering plant in the mint family, called Lamiaceae. It grows naturally only in the Northern Territory of Australia. This plant is a tall, bushy shrub with soft, bumpy leaves and pale yellow, fuzzy flowers.

What Does It Look Like?

Muniria angustisepala is a shrub that can grow up to about 2 m (7 ft) tall. Its branches are square-shaped and covered in thick hairs.

The leaves are shaped like an oval or a spearhead. They are about 3–7 cm (1–3 in) long and 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) wide. The leaves feel soft and have a wrinkly, bumpy surface on top. The leaf stalk, which connects the leaf to the stem, is about 4–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) long.

Flowers and Fruit

The flowers grow alone or in small groups of up to three. They appear where the leaves meet the stem, on a short, sticky, hairy stalk. At the base of each flower, there are small, sticky, hairy leaf-like parts called bracts.

Each flower has five sepals, which are like small leaves that protect the bud. These sepals are 13–18 mm (0.5–0.7 in) long and join at their bases to form a short tube. They are long and narrow, sticky, hairy, and have ridges on the outside.

The petals are pale yellow and 18–25 mm (0.7–1 in) long. They are joined together to form a tube about 13–16 mm (0.5–0.6 in) long. This tube is sticky and slightly hairy on the outside. Inside, it is smooth, except for a ring of dense hairs around the ovary (where the seeds develop). The petal lobes, which are the wider parts of the petals, are broad and egg-shaped. They are about 2.5–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long, with the middle lower lobe being the largest.

The flower has four stamens, which are the parts that produce pollen. These stamens stick out beyond the end of the petal tube. The lower pair of stamens is longer than the upper ones. This plant flowers from January to September. After flowering, it produces fruit. The fruit is oblong, has four clear ridges, and the sepals remain attached to it.

How It Got Its Name

This plant was first officially described in 1979 by a scientist named Ahmad Abid Munir. He found a sample near the UDP Falls, which are now called Gunlom Falls. He first named it Pityrodia angustisepala. The description was published in a scientific book called Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

Later, in 2011, other scientists named Barry Conn, Murray Henwood, and Nicola Streiber created a new group of plants called Muniria. They then moved this plant into that new group. The second part of its scientific name, angustisepala, comes from two words. Angustus is a Latin word meaning "narrow". Sepalum is a New Latin word for "sepal". So, the name means "narrow sepals."

Where Does It Grow?

Muniria angustisepala is found only in the northern parts of the Northern Territory in Australia. You can find it in places like Kakadu, Limmen, and Nitmiluk National Parks. It grows in several different natural areas, including the Arnhem Plateau, Darwin Coastal, Gulf Coastal, Gulf Fall and Uplands, and Pine Creek regions.

Is It Safe?

The Muniria angustisepala plant is considered "least concern" under the Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act. This means that it is not currently at risk of disappearing and there are plenty of these plants in the wild.