''Goodenia macrocalyx'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Goodeniaceae Goodeniaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Asterales. It contains about 404 species in twelve genera. The family is distributed mostly in Australia, except for the genus '' Scaevola'', which is pantropical. Its species are found ac ...

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 north-eastern Australia. It is a

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

with elliptic to narrowly egg-shaped leaves at the base of the plant, yellow flowers and narrowly oval fruit.

Description

''Goodenia macrocalyx'' is a glabrous perennial herb with elliptic to narrowly egg-shaped leaves at the base of the plant, long and wide, sometimes toothed near the base, on a

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

long. The flowers are arranged on a peduncle up to long, with linear to elliptic

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

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s are elliptic to egg-shaped, long and the petals are yellow, long and hairy on the outer surface. The lower lobes of the corolla are long. The fruit is a narrowly oval capsule long containing broadly elliptic seeds wide.

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1848 by

Willem Hendrik de Vriese Willem Hendrik de Vriese (11 August 1806 – 23 January 1862) was a Dutch botanist and physician born in Oosterhout, North Brabant. Education Willem Hendrik de Vriese studied medicine at the University of Leiden, earning his doctorate in 183 ...

who gave it the name ''Velleia macrocalyx'' in Thomas Mitchell's ''Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia''. In 2020,

Kelly Anne Shepherd Kelly Anne Shepherd (born 1970) is an Australian botanist, who has published some 91 names. Career Shepherd earned a B.Sc. (Hon) in 1992 with a thesis entitled "Faecal Analysis of Mammalian Herbivores in the Perup Forest, Western Australia." ...

transferred the species to ''

Goodenia ''Goodenia'' is a genus of about two hundred species of flowering plants in the family Goodeniaceae. Plants in this genus are herbs or shrubs, mostly endemic to Australia. The leaves are variably-shaped, the flowers arranged in small groups, with ...

'' as ''G. macrocalyx'' in the journal ''

PhytoKeys ''PhytoKeys'' is a peer-reviewed, open-access online and print botanical journal. Its stated goal is "to support free exchange of ideas and information in systematic botany". Printed issues of the journal are available in the libraries of the Unit ...

''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''macrocalyx'' means "large sepals".

Distribution and habitat

This goodenia grows in woodland and grassland in the Northern Territory and in Queensland from the

Barkly Tableland The Barkly Tableland is a region in the Central East of the Northern Territory, extending into Western Queensland. The region was named after Sir Henry Barkly. The epithet "Tableland" is inaccurate, since the region is neither elevated relative ...

and

Sandover River The Sandover River is an ephemeral river in the Northern Territory of Australia located in northeast Central Australia. It is the only major tributary of the Georgina River that does not rise in western Queensland. Instead it flows from the e ...

to the

Burdekin River The Burdekin River is a river in North and Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the northern slopes of Boulder Mountain at Valley of Lagoons, part of the western slope of the Seaview Range, and flows into the Coral Sea at Upsta ...

Conservation status

''Goodenia macrocalyx'' is classified 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 ...

and th
Northern Territory Government Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1976

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q106905761 macrocalyx Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1848 Taxa named by Willem Hendrik de Vriese