''Gossypium sturtianum'', or Sturt's desert rose, is a woody

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

, closely related to cultivated

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

, found in most mainland states of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. It is also known as the Darling River rose, cotton rosebush and Australian cotton. The plant has a life span of about 10 years, growing from 1–2 m tall and 1–2 m wide. The flowers are up to 12 cm in diameter: they can be seen for most of the year but peak in late winter. The colour of the petals ranges from pale pink to dark

purple Purple is a color similar in appearance to violet light. In the RYB color model historically used in the arts, purple is a secondary color created by combining red and blue pigments. In the CMYK color model used in modern printing, purple is ...

maroon Maroon ( , ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word , meaning chestnut. ''Marron'' is also one of the French translations for "brown". Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, inc ...

. The five petals are arranged in a whorl and have a dark red centre. The leaves are different shades of green, round and strongly

scent An odor (American English) or odour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a smell or a scent caused by one or more volatilized ...

ed when crushed.

Taxonomy

Two varieties are often recognized. * ''G. sturtianum'' var. ''nandewarense'' (Derera) Fryxell is found only in north-eastern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

(around

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire Local government in Australia, local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Hi ...

) and the Expedition Range in central

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. * ''G. sturtianum'' var. ''sturtianum'' is more common and is found everywhere else. ''G. sturtianum'' var. ''trilobum'' (F.Muell.) J.H.Willis is sometimes considered a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of '' Gossypium robinsonii''.

Ecology

The Sturt's desert rose is found in sandy and gravelly soils, along dry creek beds,

watercourse A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s, gorges and rocky

slopes In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a Line (mathematics), line is a number that describes the direction (geometry), direction of the line on a plane (geometry), plane. Often denoted by the letter ''m'', slope is calculated as the ratio of t ...

. Adaptations for this plant include: * There are fewer stomata (the pores that release gas in the leaves), or they are protected. The stomata on the Sturt's desert rose are found on the underside of the leaf. This results in reduced water loss. * They have internal water storage. * They have deep root systems, so are able to reach water deep under the ground. Sturt's desert rose contains gossypol, a chemical toxic to animals other than

ruminant Ruminants are herbivorous grazing or browsing artiodactyls belonging to the suborder Ruminantia that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through microb ...

s. The first European to see the flower was

Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European land exploration of Australia, European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the ...

in 1844–45, after whom it is named. In 1947, James Hamlyn Willis gave the shrub its current botanical name. It is not considered to be at risk in the wild. It is the

floral emblem In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used t ...

of the

and appears in stylised form on the official flag with seven rather than five petals.Sturt's Desert Rose – Floral Emblem of the Northern Territory
/ref>

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q339803 sturtianum Malvales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of the Northern Territory Rosids of Western Australia Rare flora of Australia Charles Sturt Symbols of the Northern Territory