Philotheca

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Philotheca
Bee on Sydney wildflower.jpg
Philotheca buxifolia
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Subfamily: Zanthoxyloideae
Genus: Philotheca
Rudge [1]
Philotheca coccinea Philotheca coccinea.jpg
Philotheca coccinea
Philotheca conduplicata Philotheca conduplicata.jpg
Philotheca conduplicata
Philotheca myoporoides Philotheca myoporoides myoporoides.jpg
Philotheca myoporoides
Philotheca nodiflora Skipper Mesodina cyanophracta.jpg
Philotheca nodiflora
Philotheca scabra Philotheca scabra latifolia.jpg
Philotheca scabra
Philotheca spicata Philotheca spicata.jpg
Philotheca spicata

Philotheca is a genus of about fifty species of flowering plants in the family Rutaceae. Plants in this genus are shrubs with simple leaves arranged alternately along the stems, flowers that usually have five sepals, five petals and ten stamens that curve inwards over the ovary. All species are endemic to Australia and there are species in every state, but not the Northern Territory.

Contents

Description

Plants in the genus Philotheca are shrubs that are either glabrous or have tiny, simple hairs. The leaves are arranged alternately along the stems, narrow oblong to almost cylindrical and sessile or on a very short petiole. From a single to many flowers are arranged in leaf axils or on the ends of the branchlets. The flowers have five sepals and five petals (except in P. virgata which has four). The sepals are free from each other and the petals usually overlap at their bases. There are ten stamens that curve inwards over the ovary with anthers that have an appendage called the "apiculum". The ovary contains five carpels fused near their bases. The seeds are 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) long and are released explosively from their capsule. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Taxonomy and naming

The genus Philotheca was first formally described in 1816 by Edward Rudge from a specimen collected near Port Jackson and the description was published in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London . [6] [7] The first species Rudge described was P. australis but this name is considered a nomen illegitimum and a taxonomic synonym of Philotheca salsolifolia by the Australian Plant Census. [8]

The name Philotheca should have been written Psilotheca after the Ancient Greek words psilos meaning "bare", "smooth", "bald" or "naked" [9] :123 and theke meaning "case", "container", "envelope" or "sheath", [9] :118 referring to "the smooth tube of the stamens". [10]

Many plants formerly in Eriostemon are now in this genus. [11]

Distribution

Plants in the genus Philotheca are found in every state of Australia, but not in the Northern Territory. [4]

Species

The following is a list of Philotheca species accepted by the Australian Plant Census as at April 2019: [12]

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<i>Persoonia</i> genus of shrubs and small trees in the family Proteaceae

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

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<i>Philotheca myoporoides</i> Species of flowering plant

Philotheca myoporoides, commonly known as long-leaf wax flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a shrub with sessile, oblong to egg-shaped, glandular-warty leaves and white to pink flowers arranged singly in leaf axils. Prior to 1998 it was known as Eriostemon myoporoides.

<i>Philotheca buxifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Philotheca buxifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It is a shrub with more or less oblong leaves and solitary white to pink flowers arranged singly on the ends of branchlets.

<i>Philotheca brucei</i> Species of shrub

Philotheca brucei is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub with cylindrical leaves grooved along the top and in spring, white to pink or mauve flowers with five egg-shaped petals.

<i>Philotheca deserti</i> Species of plant

Philotheca deserti is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to inland Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with narrow spindle-shaped, glandular-warty leaves and white flowers arranged singly in leaf axils.

<i>Philotheca difformis</i> Species of plant

Philotheca difformis is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to continental eastern Australia. It is a shrub with variably-shaped leaves depending on subspecies, and white flowers arranged singly or in groups of up to four on the ends of the branchlets. Subspecies difformis is commonly known as the small-leaf wax-flower.

<i>Philotheca gardneri</i> Species of plant

Philotheca gardneri is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with crowded, narrow club-shaped or more or less spherical leaves and white flowers with a prominent pink midrib, usually borne singly on the ends of branchlets.

<i>Philotheca myoporoides <span style="font-style:normal;">subsp.</span> acuta</i> Subspecies of flowering plant

Philotheca myoporoides subsp. acuta is a subspecies of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It is a shrub with narrow oblong or narrow elliptic leaves and white flowers arranged singly or in groups of up to three in leaf axils.

Philotheca myoporoides subsp. euroensis is a subspecies of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area in Victoria, Australia. It is a small shrub with curved, broadly elliptic leaves and white or pink flowers arranged singly or in groups of up to four in leaf axils.

<i>Philotheca myoporoides <span style="font-style:normal;">subsp.</span> myoporoides</i> Subspecies of flowering plant

Philotheca myoporoides subsp. myoporoides, commonly known as long-leaf wax flower, is a subspecies of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is a shrub with oblong to elliptic or egg-shaped leaves and white or pink flowers arranged in groups of three to eight in leaf axils.

<i>Philotheca scabra</i> Species of plant

Philotheca scabra is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It is a small shrub with variably shaped leaves, depending on subspecies, and single white to pink flowers arranged on the ends of branchlets.

References

  1. "Philotheca". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  2. Wilson, Paul G. "Philotheca". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  3. Walsh, Neville. "Philotheca". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  4. 1 2 Weston, Peter H.; Harden, Gwen J. "Philotheca". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  5. "Philotheca". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  6. "Philotheca". APNI. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  7. Rudge, Edward (1815). "A Description of several new Species of Plants from New Holland". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 11 (2): 298. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  8. "Philotheca salsolifolia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  9. 1 2 Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  10. Craig, John (1849). A New Universal Etymological and Pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language embracing all the terms used in art, science and literature. London: Henry George Collins.
  11. Bayly, Michael (March 1999). "A Name Change for Most Eriostemons". Australian Plants online. The Society for Growing Australian Plants.
  12. "Philotheca". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 3 May 2019.

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