Anisomeles Ajugacea
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''Anisomeles ajugacea'' is a species of flowering plant in the family
Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle, or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil (herb), ba ...
and is
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to Queensland. It is a low-lying shrub with egg-shaped to heart-shaped stem-leaves with a gradual transition to flora
bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...
s on the upper part of the stem, and small groups of pink flowers.


Description

''Anisomeles ajugacea'' is a low-lying to prostrate shrub that typically grows to a height of and is sparsely covered with hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped to heart-shaped, long and wide with between two and four teeth on each side. The leaves are arranaged along the stem with the upper leaves transitioning to floral bracts that are egg-shaped, long and wide. The flowers are arranged in groups of three to five with spatula-shaped
bracteoles In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...
long and wide. The lower lip of the corolla is pink, long and the
stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...
s are long. Flowering occurs from April to July and the fruit is a
schizocarp A schizocarp is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps. There are different definitions: * Any Dry fruits, dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate. : Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more ...
containing nutlets long.


Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1888 by
Frederick Manson Bailey Frederick Manson Bailey (8 March 1827 – 25 June 1915) was a botanist active in Australia, who made valuable contributions to the characterisation of the flora of Queensland. He was known by his middle name, Manson. Early life Bailey was bo ...
and
Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria, Australia ...
who gave it the name ''Teucrium ajugaceum''. In 2015,
Anthony Bean Anthony Russell Bean (born 1957) is an Australian botanist who works at the Queensland Herbarium and Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha. Since 1982, he has led the Eucalyptus Study Group of the Society for Growing Australian Plants. Caree ...
changed the name to ''Anisomeles ajugacea'' in the journal ''
Austrobaileya ''Austrobaileya'' is the sole genus in the plant family Austrobaileyaceae – the family is thus 'monotypic' as it includes a single child taxon. It is one of the basal angiosperm families, the most ancient group of flowering plants. The genu ...
''. For many years, the species was thought to be extinct, until it was rediscovered on Cape York, between
Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the '' Endeavour'', for ...
and Lockhart River in May 2004. Previous to this, the species had not been seen since 1891.


Distribution and habitat

''Anisomelea ajugacea'' grows on low rises and flats in woodland within a radius of Musgrave on the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland.


Conservation status

This species is listed as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government ''
Nature Conservation Act 1992 The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...
''.


References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q65930766, from2=Q2713785 ajugacea Lamiales of Australia Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1888 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Taxa named by Frederick Manson Bailey