Schenkia australis is a species of annual or biennial herb in the family Gentianaceae. It is native to Australia and is commonly known as Australian Centaury.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Clade: Tracheophytes, Angiosperms, Eudicots, Asterids
- Order: Gentianales
- Family: Gentianaceae
- Genus: Schenkia
- Species: S. australis
The species was formerly known as Centaurium australe, but was reclassified into the genus Schenkia in 2004 following molecular phylogenetic studies. The genus Schenkia itself was segregated from Centaurium.
Description
Schenkia australis is a small, erect herbaceous plant typically growing to a height of 5 to 30 cm. It usually has a basal rosette of oblanceolate to spathulate leaves at ground level, from which one or more flowering stems arise. The stem leaves are opposite, narrower, and smaller than the basal leaves.
The flowers are characteristically five-petaled, star-shaped, and usually pink, though occasionally white. They are relatively small, typically 5–10 mm across, and are borne in terminal cymes or sometimes solitarily in the leaf axils. Flowering generally occurs from spring through summer. The fruit is a small, cylindrical capsule containing numerous minute seeds.
Distribution and Habitat
Schenkia australis is widely distributed across temperate regions of Australia, including New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia, and Queensland. It is often found in damp, open situations, such as grasslands, pastures, roadsides, disturbed areas, and the margins of wetlands. It prefers moist, but not waterlogged, soils and can tolerate a range of soil types.
Etymology
The specific epithet "australis" is Latin for "southern" or "Australian," referring to its native distribution in Australia. The genus Schenkia is named after August Schenk, a 19th-century German botanist.