''Centrolepis aristata'', commonly known as pointed centrolepis, is a species of plant in the

Restionaceae The Restionaceae, also called restiads and restios, are a family of flowering plants native to the Southern Hemisphere; they vary from a few centimeters to 3 meters in height. Following the APG IV (2016): the family now includes the former famil ...

family and is found in areas of southern Australia.

Description

The annual herb has a tufted habit and typically grows to a height of . It is a bright green colour becoming reddish after it flowers. The shiny, glabrous, thin, pointed leaves are typically in length with a width of . It flowers between August and December. The flower heads have a flattened oblong-ovoid shape and are around wide. the flowers have a brown base and two long opposite primary bracts. Between 6-22 flowers form in a terminal cluster, the flowers have a brown to yellowish colour. Brown ovoid fruit follow that contain small soft seeds. The seeds are fusiform and long.

Classification

The species was first formally described by the botanist

Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...

and then by

Johann Jacob Roemer Johann Jacob Roemer (8 January 1763, Zürich – 15 January 1819) was a Swiss physician and professor of botany in Zürich, Switzerland. He was also an entomologist. With Austrian botanist Joseph August Schultes, he published the 16th edition of ...

and

Josef August Schultes Josef (Joseph) August Schultes (15 April 1773 in Vienna – 21 April 1831 in Landshut) was an Austrian botanist and professor from Vienna. Together with Johann Jacob Roemer (1763–1819), he published the 16th edition of Linnaeus' ''Systema ...

in 1817 in the work ''Systema Vegetabilium''.

Distribution

It is found among rocky outcrops and in winter wet depressions in the

Mid West The Mid West region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is a sparsely populated region extending from the west coast of Western Australia, about north and south of its administrative centre of Geraldton and inland to east of W ...

, Wheatbelt,

South West Southwest is a compass point. Southwest, south-west, south west, southwestern or south-western or south western may also refer to: * Southwest (direction), an intercardinal direction Geography *South West Queensland, Australia *South West (Weste ...

, Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia where it grows in damp sandy-clay-loam soils over

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

. In South Australia it is found along much of the south coast, all of the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Earlier called Eyre's Peninsula, it was named after e ...

and

Yorke Peninsula The Yorke Peninsula, known as Guuranda by the original inhabitants, the Narungga people, is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula ...

, through all of the southeast and as far north as the

Flinders Ranges The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain ranges in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhab ...

. The plant is also found in New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15511741 aristata Plants described in 1817 Flora of Western Australia Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of Tasmania Flora of New South Wales Poales of Australia