Maireana excavata
(J.M.Black) Paul G.Wilson Bottle BluebushProstrate or decumbent perennial; taproot long and somewhat fleshy; branches woolly, to c. 30 cm long. Leaves alternate, linear to oblong, 5–12 mm long, loosely silky to villous (at least on lower surface), with fine white to tan hairs. Flowers bisexual, sometimes subtended by a pair of small bracteoles, perianth lobes ciliate on margins. Fruiting perianth c. 8–10 mm diam., glabrous except perianth lobes, flat or slightly convex at apex; tube 10-ribbed, thin-walled, abruptly tapered immediately below wing, then dilated and spongy, the point of attachment deeply sunken within base; wing c. circular, flat or slightly undulate, brown or pinkish; radicular slit extending to spongy part of tube. Fruits Sep.–Dec.
LoM, MuM, Wim, VVP, VRiv, MuF, Gold, CVU, GGr, NIS. Also SA, NSW. In Victoria formerly widespread on loamy and clay soils of the mid north-west (particularly in the Wimmera), but through clearing, now rather rare and confined to small remnant stands. Commonly associated with Buloke (Allocasuarina luehmannii) woodlands. Isolated records are from Skipton and Daylesford areas (but not recorded from the latter since 1878).
Walsh, N.G. (1996). Chenopodiaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 3, Dicotyledons Winteraceae to Myrtaceae, pp. 129–199. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
