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Commersonia rugosa (Steetz) F.Muell.
Family Malvaceae
Commersonia rugosa (Steetz) F.Muell. APNI*

Synonyms: Rulingia rugosa Steetz APNI*

Description: Shrub, lax, spreading, 0.5–2 m high.

Leaves scarcely discolorous, linear to narrowly ovate, 1–5 cm long, 5–25 mm wide, margins coarsely toothed, sometimes lobed; upper surface strongly to scarcely rugose with impressed veins and with dense stellate hairs above smaller stellate hairs, glandular trichomes absent, lower surface tomentose with sessile, golden or white, stellate hairs above smaller white, stellate hairs, glandular trichomes absent, apex acute, juvenile leaves trilobed; petiole 2–5 mm long.

Inflorescences cymes, few-flowered, often longer than leaves. Calyx 3.5–6.2 mm long. Petals 2.1–3.7 mm long, white, anther filaments mainly stellate hairy.

Capsule mostly 8–15 mm diam., with dense, white, stellate hairs beneath dense bristles throughout, 2–4.6 mm long. shaft basal 2/3 with dense, 1–3-armed hairs and apical third of shaft with red-tipped, clavate, glandular trichomes; apical hair with erect and horizontal, white arms. Fruits summer to autumn.


Flowering: August to November

Distribution and occurrence: Widespread, but not common.

Grows mainly on creek lines in dry sclerophyll forest, eucalyptus woodland, and on hillsides, sometimes near summit of ranges, in sandy gravelly sandstone or limestone-ridge soil.
NSW subdivisions: NC, CC, SC, NT, CT, NWS, CWS
AVH map***

Resembles C. amystia, which has smooth or scarcely rugose leaves, and (1)2–4(–6) flowers per inflorescence. Differs from C. hermanniifolia, which has stiff, elliptic leaves, and from C. breviseta which has short bristles towards the apex of the fruit.

Text by B.J. Conn (2014); modified S.F. McCune (2019)
Taxon concept: Wilkins and Whitlock (2011) Australian Systematic Botany 24(5):277-279


APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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