Ptilotus uncinellus is a species of flowering plant of the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to northern Queensland, Australia. It is a prostrate annual herb with many stems radiating from a central rootstock, egg-shaped to diamond-shaped leaves, and sessile, pale brown cylindrical spikes of flowers.
Description Ptilotus uncinellus is a prostrate, annual herb with many stems up to long, radiating from a central rootstock. Mature plants have egg-shaped to diamond-shaped, glabrous leaves long, wide and sessile or on a petiole up to long. The flowers are borne in sessile cylindrical spikes in leaf axils, with a narrowly egg-shaped bract long and wide for each flower, and two glabrous bracteoles long and wide, both with a prominent midrib. There are five narrowly oblong to narrowly elliptic tepals long, and wide. There are two stamens and three staminodes, the style is straight, long and the ovary is sessile, broadly lens-shaped, long. Flowering has been recorded from April to June and the fruits are lens-shaped, about in diameter with a seed about in diameter with a thin, custy covering.
Taxonomy This species was first formally described in 2010 by Anthony Bean who gave it the name Kelita uncinella in the journal Muelleria from specimens he collected near the Newlands coal mine in 2009. In 2019, Tim Hammer transferred the species to Ptilotus as P. uncinellus in the journal Taxon. The specific epithet (uncinellus) means 'with small hooks', referring to the small hooks on the tepal ends.
Distribution and habitat This species of Ptilotus is only known from near the Newlands coal mine about west of Mackay in north Queensland, where it mainly grows on the south-facing slopes of "jump-ups" in Acacia shirleyi woodland with an understorey of scrub species.
Conservation status Ptilotus uncinellus is listed as 'endangered' under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992.
References