Kunzea salina

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Kunzea salina
Kunzea salina.jpg
Kunzea salina near Scaddan
Status DECF P3.svg
Priority Three — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Kunzea
Species:
K. salina
Binomial name
Kunzea salina
Synonyms [1]

Angasomyrtus salinaTrudgen & Keighery

Kunzea salina is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a low, spreading, densely branched shrub with leaves mostly arranged in opposite pairs and usually two sessile pale pink to white flowers arranged at the base of new shoots. It only grows near the edge of certain salt lakes.

Contents

Description

Kunzea salina is a much-branched shrub that grows to a height of up to 0.4 m (1 ft 4 in) and spreads to about 2 m (6 ft 7 in) across. The leaves are mostly arranged in opposite pairs, linear to lance-shaped or elliptic, 3.5–6 mm (0.14–0.24 in) long and 0.5–1.5 mm (0.020–0.059 in) wide. The flowers are usually arranged in pairs, sometimes in groups of up to six at the base of new shoots. There are bracts and bracteoles at the base of the flowers and the floral cup is about 3 mm (0.12 in) long at flowering time. The sepal lobes are egg-shaped to triangular, 0.5–0.7 mm (0.020–0.028 in) long with a pointed tip. The petals are pale pink to white, broadly egg-shaped to almost round and about twice the size of the sepals. There are between sixteen and nineteen stamens arranged in two whorls. Flowering mainly occurs between November and February but depends on rainfall. The fruit is an urn-shaped capsule with the sepal lobes attached. [2] [3]

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1983 by Malcolm Trudgen and Greg Keighery who gave it the name Angasomyrtus salina and published the description in the journal Nuytsia . [3] [4] The genus Angasomyrtus was named after the co-discoverer, Angas Hopkins, who is known for his work on the ecology and conservation of Western Australian flora. [3] Following phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences, Peter de Lange and Hellmut Toelken changed the name to Kunzea salina. [5] [6] The specific epithet (salina) refers to the saline habitat of this species. [3]

Distribution and habitat

Kunzea salina grows in white sand dunes over clay at the edges of small playa lakes north of Esperance in the Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions. [3] [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Kunzea pulchella</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea pulchella, commonly known as granite kunzea, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with spreading branches, egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves and loose groups of red flowers, each on a short stalk so that the branch is visible between the flowers.

<i>Kunzea baxteri</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea baxteri, commonly known as scarlet kunzea, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia where it occurs near granite outcrops and hills. It is a shrub with large, scarlet, bottlebrush-like flower clusters, making it popular as a garden feature.

<i>Kunzea parvifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea parvifolia, commonly known as the violet kunzea, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a wiry shrub with small, narrow leaves and clusters of pink to purple flowers in spring.

<i>Kunzea muelleri</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea muelleri, commonly known as yellow kunzea, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to mountainous areas of south-eastern Australia. It is a low-growing, spreading shrub with linear leaves and small groups of pale yellow, stalkless flowers that appear in the summer.

Kunzea acicularis is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with a few erect stems, small and groups of three to five, pink to mauve flowers. It is a rare, recently described species only known from a small area near Ravensthorpe.

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

Kunzea preissiana is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a shrub with hairy branches and leaves, pink to mauve flowers in groups on the ends of shoots, and twenty to thirty stamens about the same length as the petals. It is a widespread, often locally common species across its range.

<i>Kunzea spathulata</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea spathulata is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in the south west of Western Australia. It is a tall shrub with erect, much-branched stems, linear leaves and more or less spherical groups of yellow or yellowish green flowers.

Kunzea aristulata is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It is an erect, spreading shrub similar to Kunzea rupestris but is distinguished from it mainly by the shape of its leaves. It is only known from a remote area north of Yerranderie where it often grows on cliff edges.

Kunzea axillaris is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It is an erect shrub or tree with linear leaves and white flowers which are arranged singly in leaf axils. It is only known from the ranges on the north coast.

<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>Kunzea badjaensis</i> Species of shrub

Kunzea badjaensis is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It is a shrub with egg-shaped leaves and clusters of white flowers near the end of the branches. It grows at high altitudes on the Southern Tablelands.

Kunzea caduca is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is a spreading shrub with linear to lance-shaped leaves and groups of white to cream-coloured flowers on the ends of all the branches from late winter to early spring. It is only known from a few locations and only conserved in the Castle Tower National Park near Gladstone.

<i>Kunzea cambagei</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea cambagei, commonly known as the Cambage kunzea is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It is a small shrub with egg-shaped leaves and clusters of cream-coloured to yellowish flowers near the end of the branches. It is only known from areas near Mount Werong in the Kanangra-Boyd National Park and Berrima.

Kunzea dactylota is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It is a spreading shrub with small, finger-shaped leaves and clusters of white flowers near the end of the branches. It grows at high altitudes on the Southern Tablelands of the state.

Kunzea flavescens is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is a spreading shrub which has egg-shaped leaves and groups of white or cream-coloured flowers on the ends of the branches in September and October.

Kunzea graniticola is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is a shrub or small tree with linear to egg-shaped leaves and rounded groups of white or cream-coloured flowers on the ends of the branches in August and September. It is only known from forests near Cardwell and on Hinchinbrook Island.

Kunzea juniperoides is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It is a small shrub with narrow leaves and small groups of white flowers near the end of the longer branches. It is distinguished from similar kunzeas by the large number of scale-like perules and bracts surrounding the groups of flowers.

<i>Kunzea occidentalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea occidentalis is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a western New South Wales. It is a shrub with narrow leaves and small groups of white flowers on leafy side-branches. It is distinguished from the similar Kunzea ambigua by the flanges on the sides of its young branches.

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

Kunzea opposita is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a spindly shrub which has small leaves arranged in opposite pairs, and pink flowers with five petals and many stamens, the stamens much longer than the petals. It usually grows in woodland or on exposed cliffs.

Kunzea petrophila is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the Northern Territory. It is a spreading shrub with hairy branches and leaves, narrow leaves and cream-coloured flowers in more or less spherical groups usually on the ends of the main branches.

References

  1. 1 2 "Kunzea salina". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 7 April 2019.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  2. Toelken, Helmut R. (2016). "Revision of Kunzea (Myrtaceae). 2. Subgenera Angasomyrtus and Salisia (section Salisia) from Western Australia nad subgenera Kunzea and Niviferae (sections Platyphyllae and Pallidiflorae) from eastern Australia" (PDF). Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. 29: 121–122.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Trudgen, Malcolm E.; Keighery, Gregory J. (1983). "Angasomyrtus, a new genus of Myrtaceae (Leptosperminae) from Western Australia". Nuytsia. 4 (3): 435–438. Retrieved 7 April 2019.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  4. "Angasomyrtus salina". APNI. Retrieved 7 April 2019.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  5. "Kunzea salina". APNI. Retrieved 7 April 2019.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  6. de Lange, Peter J.; Smissen, Rob D.; Wagstaff, Steven J.; Keeling, D. J.; Murray, B. G.; Toelken, Hellmut R. (2010). "A molecular phylogeny and infrageneric classification for Kunzea (Myrtaceae) inferred from rDNA ITS and ETS sequences". Australian Systematic Botany. 23 (5): 318. doi:10.1071/SB10019.
  7. "Kunzea salina". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.