Plants of
South Australia
Scambopus curvipes
Brassicaceae
Bent-stalk Cress
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
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Extinct
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock painting: 1

Prior names

Erysimum curvipes

Sisymbrium curvipes

Blennodia curvipes

Etymology

Scambopus from the Greek 'scambos' meaning bent or curved and 'pous' meaning foot; referring to the curved fruiting pedicels. Curvipes from the Latin 'curvus' meaning bent; referring to the curved fruiting pedicels.

Distribution and status

Endemic to South Australia and Found in the central part, growing in open mallee in swales and depression. Native. Uncommon in South Australia.
Herbarium regions: Gairdner-Torrens, Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula
NRM regions: Eyre Peninsula, South Australian Arid Lands
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Annual herbs with many-stems to 50 cm tall, hairy with rough branched and stellate hairs. Basal leaves rosette, narrow-obovate, entire or dentate or pinnatisect, stem leaves reducing. Inflorescence a terminal cluster with yellow flowers. Flowers throughout the year especially in September. Fruits are brown, fusiform pod to 20 mm long and 2 mm wide, curved, quadrangular to slightly flattened parallel to the septum, valves hairy, with a prominent midvein, pedicels usually recurred. Seeds are brown reinform seed to 1.3 mm long and 1 mm wide, with a tuberculate surface. Seed embryo type is bent.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between September and November. Collect maturing pods those turning pale brown with brown seeds inside. Be gentle with the pods as they split open easily. Place the pods in a tray and cover with paper to prevent seeds from popping out and leave to dry for a week. Then rub the dried pods 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%.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
1,600 (0.6 g)
1,600 (0.6 g)
50+17-Sep-2008PJA176
Eyre Peninsula
20-Jul-2009100%-18°C
BGA9,500 (2.8 g)509-Sep-2009TST789
Eyre Peninsula
1-Jan-201295%-18°C
BGA13,000 (3.96 g)2-Sep-2016DJD3405
Gairdner-Torrens
1-Nov-201785%+5°C, -18°C, -80°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.
Germination table:
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