Calandrinia named after Jean-Louis Calandrini (1703-1758), a Swiss scientist, professor of mathematics and philosophy. Ptychrosperma from the Greek 'ptyche' meaning a fold and 'sperma' meaning seed; referring to the concentric ribs around the seeds.
Distribution and status
Found across the northern part of South Australia, growing in sandy watercourses or low-lying areas, but also in rocky loams and clay pans. Found in Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: North Western, Lake Eyre, Gairdner-Torrens, Flinders Ranges, Eastern
NRM regions: Alinytjara Wilurara, South Australian Arid Lands
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Prostrate to decumbent annual herb with stems to 40 cm long. Leaves basal and on flower stems; alternate, sessile, linear to lanceolate, often terete, to 70 mm long and 3 mm wide. Inflorescence loose spike (erect to spreading in fruit), with pink to purple flowers. Flowering between August and October. Fruits are red-brown ovoid to conical capsules to 7 mm long with 4 valves. Seeds are dark red-brown reniform-ovoid seed to 0.6 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, with concentric ribs. Seed embryo type is peripheral.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between October and December. Collect mature capsules that are turning red-brown colour and contain dark seeds. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then rub the capsules gently by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 100%.
|Location||No. of seeds|
|BGA||13,300 (0.63 g)||50||18-May-2007||RJB72080|