PtilotusCotton Bush (Ptilotus obovatus) Hairy Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus helipteroides) Large Green Pussytail (Ptilotus macrocephalus) Longtail (Ptilotus polystachyus) Red Pussytail (Ptilotus polystachyus) Shrubby Fox-tail (Ptilotus whitei) Tall Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus exaltatus)
Commonly known as Cotton Bush (Ptilotus obovatus) occurs throughout the arid regions of Australia.
This Ptilotus species is spreading or rounded much-branched perennial small shrub that grows usually know more then 80 cm high, although it has been documented as reaching 1 metre in height.
The stems and leaves have a persistent covering of dense hairs. The leaves are a grey-green to almost whitish, with alternate, sessile, obovate to ovate (leaf with the narrower end at the base) or elliptic (symmetrical on both the long and the short axis). the leaves are approximately 12-50 mm long and 4-17 mm wide.
The flowers are arranged in short spikes to about 30 mm long and 10-20 mm wide, often borne in corymbs towards the ends of the branches.
The flowers have have 5 hairy pink to purplish perianth segments 5-9 mm long. The perianth is subtended by a bract and 2 scarious bracteoles, that can also be mistaken for sepals. Five stamens are present, including two that are sterile. The indehiscent fruit are 1-2 mm long and 0.5-1 mm wide.
Similar Taxa
Whilst Ptilotus obovatus is a variable species, particularly with respect to indumentum (covering of hairs on a plant). Ptilotus obovatus is commonly confused with P. sessilifolius and P. incanus. Ptilotus sessilifolius has broader spikes and longer perianth segments, whilst the flowerheads of P. obovatus being more compact and the plant more sprawling than P. sessilifolius. The spikes of P. incanus are scattered along the stems, and also have longer indumentum.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Phylum: Charophyta
- Class: Equisetopsida
- Subclass: Magnoliidae
- Superorder: Caryophyllanae
- Order: Caryophyllales
- Family: Amaranthaceae
- Genus: Ptilotus
- Species: Ptilotus obovatus
Footnote & References
- Many thanks for assistance with ID to members of the Alice Springs Field Naturalists Club, Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/alicefieldnats
- Ptilotus obovatus (Gaudich.) F.Muell., FloraNT, Northern Territory flora online, http://eflora.nt.gov.au/factsheet?id=182
- Ptilotus obovatus (Gaudich.) F.Muell., Cotton Bush, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://id.biodiversity.org.au/node/apni/2915885
PtilotusCotton Bush (Ptilotus obovatus) Hairy Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus helipteroides) Large Green Pussytail (Ptilotus macrocephalus) Longtail (Ptilotus polystachyus) Red Pussytail (Ptilotus polystachyus) Shrubby Fox-tail (Ptilotus whitei) Tall Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus exaltatus)
FloraFlora in Australia Flora Index Acacia Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paws) Annual Yellowtop Apium prostratum subsp. prostratum var filiforme Apple Bush (Pterocaulon sphacelatum) Australian Bluebell Australian Gossypium Banksia Batswing Coral Tree Billy Buttons Birdsville Indigo Blue Pincushion Bush Banana Callistemon Callitris drummondii (Drummond’s Cypress Pine) Calothamnus quadrifidus Cape Honeysuckle Cassia fistula (Golden Shower) Cattle Bush Common Heath Crotalaria Darwinia wittwerorum (Wittwer’s Mountain Bell) Daviesia oppositifolia (Rattle-pea) Desert Oaks Drumsticks Eremophila Eucalyptus Ficus Flannel Cudweed (Actinobole uliginosum) Georges Indigo Goatshead Burr (Sclerolaena bicornis) Golden Everlasting Goodenia Gossypium Grass and Grasses Grass Trees Grevillea Grey Germander Hakea Kapok Bush (Aerva javanica) Lambertia sp Leptospermum MacDonnell Ranges Cycad Maireana scleroptera Mexican Poppy Minnie Daisy Mistletoe Family Nardoo Native Apricot Nicotiana megalosiphon subspecies sessilifolia Nuytsia floribunda Orange Spade Flower Orchidaceae Parakeelyas (Calandrinia) Pebble Bush (Stylobasium spathulatum) Perennial Yellow Top Pink Everlasting Pink Rock Wort Poached Egg Daisy Portulaca Proteaceae Ptilotus Quandong Resurrection Fern Rosy Dock Ruby Saltbush Santalum Solanum Spike Centaury Spinifex Storkbill (Erodum cygnorum) Striped Mint Bush Sturt’s Desert Pea Sturt’s Desert Rose Tall Saltbush Tangled Leschenaultia Tar Vine Tribulus eichlerianus Upside-down Plant Urodon dasyphylla Variable Daisy Waratah (Telopea) Wertabona Daisy White Cedar (Melia azedarach) White Indigo White Paper Daisy Wild Passionfruit Wild Stock Woolly-Headed Burr Daisy Woolly Bush Yellow-keeled Swainsona