Aphanes australiana
(Rothm.) Rothm. Australian PiertHerb to 10 cm high; stems villous with spreading hairs. Leaves fan-shaped, (5–)6–9(–10)-lobed, 4–12 mm long, 3–7 mm wide, with long spreading hairs; stipules bowl-shaped, 7–9-lobed, 4–8 mm wide. Flowers in clusters of 5–7. Sepals 4 or 5, occasionally 6, lanceolate, one-third to half as long as the hypanthium, spreading at maturity, with a few spreading hairs along margin, lobes 0.5–0.75 mm long; hypanthium bell-shaped, glabrous to bristly hairy with white spreading hairs and a hairless band just below base of sepal lobes, 1–2 mm long. Fruiting hypanthium reddish-brown. Flowers Aug.–Nov.
LoM, MuM, Wim, GleP, VVP, VRiv, RobP, MuF, GipP, OtP, WaP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT, NIS, EGU, WPro, HSF, HNF, OtR, Strz, MonT, VAlp. Also SA, NSW, ACT, Tas. Widespread, occurs in drier open eucalypt forest and mallee woodland.
Most of the specimens from western Victoria have 5 sepal lobes instead of 4, thus falling within the circumscription of Aphanes pentamera. However, several specimens have flowers with 4 or 5 (or even 6) sepal lobes. The variability of this character suggests that A pentamera is merely a slightly aberrant form of A. australiana.
Jeanes, J.A.; Jobson, P.C. (1996). Rosaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 3, Dicotyledons Winteraceae to Myrtaceae, pp. 556–585. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
