''Scaevola depauperata'', commonly known as skeleton fan-flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae. It is a small understorey shrub with blue, mauve or cream-white flowers. It grows in mainland states of Australia with the exception of Western Australia.

Description

''Scaevola depauperata'' is an upright, many stemmed perennial up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) high with small glandular and simple hairs, the stems almost smooth and ridged. The leaves at the base are sessile, ovate to spoon-shaped, toothed, 60 mm (2.4 in) long and 15 mm (0.59 in) wide, older leaves more or less triangular and up to 3 mm (0.12 in) long. The

corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name * Corolla (headgear), an ancient headdress in the form of a circlet or crown * ''Corolla'' (gastropod), a genus of moll ...

is cream, blue or mauve, occasionally with darker lines, petals tapering to a point, 2–30 mm (0.079–1.181 in) long, the outside covered with small, soft, upright hairs, inside thickly bearded, and the wings 1 mm (0.039 in) wide. The

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

up to 6 cm (2.4 in) long,

sepals 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 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

are triangular shaped, 1–4 mm (0.039–0.157 in) long, fused at the base and the bracteoles triangular shaped and 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long. Flowering occurs from April to December and the fruit ellipsoid shaped, 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long, warty, with tiny, simple and glandular hairs sometimes longer and simple.

Taxonomy and naming

''Scaevola depauperata'' was first formally described in 1849 by Robert Brown and the description was published in ''Narrative of an Expedition into Central Australia'' from a report of expeditions into Central Australia by Charles Sturt. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''depauperata'') means "reduced".

Distribution and habitat

Skeleton fan-flower grows on sand dunes and sandy soils in mallee in South Australia, Victoria, Northern Territory, New South Wales and Queensland.

Gallery

Image:P9270100 Scaevola depauperata.jpg, Habit Image:P9270102 Scaevola depauperata.jpg, Flower

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17480634 depauperata Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of South Australia Asterales of Australia Plants described in 1849