Roycea pycnophylloides

Roycea pycnophylloides, commonly known as Saltmat, is a species of shrub endemic to Western Australia.[1] It has no synonyms.[4]

Roycea pycnophylloides
Conservation status
Declared rare (DEC)[1]
Endangered  (EPBC Act)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Amaranthaceae
Genus:	Roycea
Species:	R. pycnophylloides
Binomial name
Roycea pycnophylloides C.A.Gardner[1][3]

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.[5]

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.[5]

References

1. "Roycea pycnophylloides". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
2. "Roycea pycnophylloides — Saltmat". Species Profile and Threats Database. Department of the Environment, Canberra. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
3. Gardner, C.A. (1948). "Contributiones Florae Australiae Occidentalis, XII". Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia. 32: 78, t. II ( figs A-K).
4. "Roycea pycnophylloides C.A.Gardner | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
5. Wilson, P.G. (2020). "Roycea pycnophylloides". profiles.ala.org.au. Retrieved 22 March 2020.