Homoranthus tropicus

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Homoranthus tropicus
Homoranthus tropicus.jpg
Homoranthus tropicus in the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Homoranthus
Species:
H. tropicus
Binomial name
Homoranthus tropicus
HomoranthustropicusDistMap29.png
Occurrence data from AVH

Homoranthus tropicus is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to tropical north Queensland. It is a shrub with curved, club-shaped leaves and white flowers in a corymb-like arrangement on the ends of branchlets.

Contents

Description

Homoranthus tropicus is a shrub to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) high. The leaves are arranged opposite, club-shaped, curved, shortly pointed and tapering at the base to a short petiole 4–8 mm (0.16–0.31 in) long, 0.5 mm (0.020 in) wide and marked with tiny dots. The white flowers are on a pedicel 0.5–1.5 mm (0.020–0.059 in) long, the small bracts 1–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) long, keeled and ending in a short point. The calyx tube, distinctly angled and up to 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long, lobes 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long. The petals are broadly egg-shaped to almost round, margins smooth, about 2 mm (0.079 in) long and the style up to 7 mm (0.28 in) long. Flowering occurs sporadically throughout the year, primarily February to July and the fruit is a single seed retained in the calyx. [2] [3]

Taxonomy and naming

Homoranthus tropicus was first formally described in 1981 by Norman Byrnes from a specimen he collected north of Laura in 1975 and the description was published in Austrolbaileya . [2] [4] The specific epithet (tropicus) means "tropical". [5]

Distribution and habitat

This species grows in northern Queensland in heath or shrubby woodland on shallow rocky soils over sandstone. [3]

Conservation status

It has a restricted distribution and considered rare by Briggs and Leigh (1996) given a ROTAP conservation code of 2R. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Homoranthus</i> Genus of flowering plants

Homoranthus is a genus of about thirty species of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and all are endemic to Australia. Plants in this genus share similarities with those in both Darwinia and Verticordia. They are shrubs with their leaves arranged in opposite pairs and with flowers appearing either singly or in small groups, usually in upper leaf axils. They are found in Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia. The genus was first described in 1836. None of the species is common nor are they well-known in horticulture.

<i>Homoranthus wilhelmii</i> Species of plant

Homoranthus wilhelmii, commonly known as the eastern feather flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It is a small, spreading shrub with cylindrical to flattened leaves and white or pink flowers arranged in corymbs on the ends of branchlets. The distribution includes an area on the Yorke Peninsula, but it is most common on the southern Eyre Peninsula.

<i>Homoranthus darwinioides</i> Species of flowering plant

Homoranthus darwinioides, commonly known as fairy bells, is a species of flowering plant in the family, Myrtaceae. It is a small, spreading shrub with pendulous yellow and pink flowers, grey-green leaves and is endemic to New South Wales.

<i>Homoranthus papillatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Homoranthus papillatus, commonly known as mouse bush, is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in southern Queensland. It is a compact shrub with curved, linear leaves and pale yellow flowers arranged in upper leaf axils.

<i>Kunzea obovata</i> Species of shrub

Kunzea obovata is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a spreading shrub with unusually-shaped leaves and clusters of pink to purple flowers. It is restricted to northern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland.

<i>Homoranthus virgatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Homoranthus virgatus commonly known as twiggy homoranthus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is found growing in coastal areas of northern New South Wales and in Queensland. It is an upright shrub with wand-like branches, aromatic foliage and white to pink flowers in small clusters at the end of branches.

<i>Homoranthus binghiensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Homoranthus binghiensis is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in northern New South Wales. It is an upright shrub with pointed leaves and usually paired yellowish to red flowers.

<i>Homoranthus coracinus</i> Species of flowering plant

Homoranthus coracinus is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in Queensland. It is a low, spreading shrub with pointed, narrow, egg-shaped leaves and groups of up to six flowers with black petals. It is only known from a single population in the Ka Ka Mundi part of the Carnarvon National Park.

<i>Homoranthus decasetus</i> Species of flowering plant

Homoranthus decasetus is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in central Queensland. It has small, thin leaves and flowers that fade to purple as they age.

<i>Homoranthus lunatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Homoranthus lunatus, commonly known as crescent-leaved homoranthus, is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in northern New South Wales. It is a spreading shrub with curved leaves and small groups of up to six yellow flowers in leaf axils.

<i>Homoranthus melanostictus</i> Species of flowering plant

Homoranthus melanostictus is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It has cylinder-shaped to flattened leaves with blackish oil dots and up to six yellow flowers arranged in leaf axils near the ends of the branchlets.

<i>Homoranthus porteri</i> Species of flowering plant

Homoranthus porteri is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to a small area in northern Queensland, Australia. It is an upright shrub with creamy-white to red pendulous flowers in pairs on a short stalk with red bracts and small linear leaves.

<i>Homoranthus prolixus</i> Species of flowering plant

Homoranthus prolixus, commonly known as granite homoranthus is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to northern New South Wales. It is a spreading shrub with linear to lance-shaped leaves and groups of up to six yellow to red flowers in the upper leaf axils.

<i>Homoranthus thomasii</i> Species of flowering plant

Homoranthus thomasii is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is a small shrub with spoon-shaped, greyish green leaves and small, pendulous, pink flowers in the upper leaf axils.

Homoranthus tricolor, is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in south-east Queensland. It is an upright shrub with linear to lance-shaped leaves and green, red and black flowers arranged singly or in pairs in upper leaf axils.

<i>Homoranthus zeteticorum</i> Species of flowering plant

Homoranthus zeteticorum is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in central Queensland. It is a tall shrub with axehead-shaped leaves and pendulous flowers with darker styles.

<i>Leptospermum lamellatum</i> Species of shrub

Leptospermum lamellatum is a species of shrub or small tree that is endemic to inland Queensland and has distinctive reddish, layered bark. It has narrow elliptical leaves, white flowers and small fruit that fall from the plant when mature.

Triplarina nitchaga is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of north Queensland. It is a shrub with lance-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, flowers with five sepals, five white petals and seventeen or eighteen stamens.

<i>Triplarina volcanica</i> Species of flowering plant

Triplarina volcanica is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to Queensland, where it is only found in three mountainous areas. It is a shrub with elliptical to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base and flowers with five sepals, five white petals and fourteen to sixteen stamens.

<i>Baeckea omissa</i> Species of flowering plant

Baeckea omissa is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a shrub with egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base and white flowers mostly with ten to fifteen stamens.

References

  1. "Homoranthus tropicus". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  2. 1 2 Byrnes, Norman (1981). "Homoranthus tropicus". Austrobaileya. 1 (4): 375. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Copeland, Lachlan M.; Craven, Lyn A.; Bruhl, Jeremy J. (2011). "A taxonomic review of Homoranthus (Myrtaceae:Chamelaucieae)". Australian Systematic Botany. 24 (6): 371. doi:10.1071/SB11015.
  4. "Homoranthus tropicus". APNI. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  5. Francis Aubie Sharr (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings. Kardinya, Western Australia: Four Gables Press. p. 329. ISBN   9780958034180.