Saltmat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Saltmat |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Roycea
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| Species: |
pycnophylloides
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Roycea pycnophylloides, commonly known as Saltmat, is a species of shrub endemic to Western Australia. It has no synonyms.
Description
Roycea pycnophylloides is a perennial, dioecious herb which forms silvery, densely branched, mats of up to 1 m in diameter. The branchlets are closely woolly and obscured by the alternate, imbricate, fleshy leaves which are about 2 mm long by 1 mm wide and silky when young. The male flowers are cup-shaped with thin, ovate tepals which are about 1 mm long and silky outside. The anthers are exserted, and the pistillode is pubescent. The female flowers are about 1 mm long, have no staminodes absent, and the stigmas are exserted and long (about 4 mm). The fruit is broadly ovoid (about. 2 mm high) and is surrounded at the base by a persistent perianth.
Distribution and habitat
It is found near the Mortlock River near Meckering in southern Western Australia, growing on the saline sandy flats around the river.
