Asterolasia is a genus of approximately seventeen species of erect or prostrate shrubs belonging to the family Rutaceae (order Sapindales), and is endemic to Australia. The genus was first formally described in 1854 by Ferdinand von Mueller in the Transactions of the Philosophical Society of Victoria.
Plants in the genus are erect or prostrate shrubs with simple leaves arranged alternately along the stems and with smooth edges. The flowers are bisexual and typically arranged in umbel-like clusters at the ends of branchlets or in leaf axils. Each flower has five sepals, five petals, and ten to twenty-five stamens; the sepals, petals, and stamens are all free from one another, with the stamens slightly shorter than the petals. There are five carpels fused at the base, sometimes to the tip, usually with a small beak, and the styles are fused to each other with a shield-shaped stigma. The fruit is composed of up to five follicles, and the dull, black seeds are released explosively at maturity.
Species are found across all mainland states of Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, but are absent from Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
Etymology
The genus name Asterolasia is derived from the Greek words aster (star) and lasios (woolly or shaggy), likely referring to the star-shaped, often hairy flowers characteristic of the genus.
Distribution
Species of Asterolasia are found across all mainland states of Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. The genus is absent from Tasmania and the Northern Territory, making it a strictly mainland Australian endemic within the family Rutaceae.
Taxonomy Notes
The genus was first formally described in 1854 by Ferdinand von Mueller in the Transactions of the Philosophical Society of Victoria. GBIF records 19 descendant taxa, while the Australian Plant Census (as of June 2020) recognised seventeen species and subspecies. The genus belongs to the family Rutaceae, order Sapindales.
