Philotheca deserti

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Philotheca deserti
Philotheca deserti.jpg
Near Beacon, Western Australia
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Philotheca
Species:
P. deserti
Binomial name
Philotheca deserti
Synonyms [1]
  • Eriostemon desertiE.Pritz. orth. var.
  • Eriostemon desertiiE.Pritz.
  • Eriostemon intermedius Ewart nom. illeg.
  • Phebalium desertiEwart & B.Rees orth. var.
  • Phebalium desertii(E.Pritz.) Ewart & B.Rees

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.

Contents

Description

Philotheca deserti is a shrub that grows to a height of 1–2 m (3 ft 3 in–6 ft 7 in) with corky branchlets. The leaves are narrow spindle-shaped, glandular-warty, 20–30 mm (0.79–1.18 in) long and channelled on the upper surface. The flowers are usually borne singly, rarely in groups of two or three, in leaf axils, each flower on a pedicel 0.5–5.5 mm (0.020–0.217 in) long. There are five round sepals about 1 mm (0.039 in) long and five egg-shaped white petals about 3 mm (0.12 in) long. The ten stamens each are free from each other. Flowering occurs from April to June or in October and the fruit is about 2.5 mm (0.098 in) long with a short beak. [2] [3]

Taxonomy and naming

This philotheca was first formally described in 1904 by Ernst Georg Pritzel who gave it the name Eriostemon desertii and published the description in Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie from specimens he collected near Southern Cross. [4] [5] In 1998, Paul Wilson changed the name to Philotheca deserti and described two subspecies in the journal Nuytsia . [6] [7]

Distribution and habitat

Philotheca deserti grows on undulating plains and hills between Kalgoorlie, Menzies and Yalgoo in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie and Murchison biogeographic regions. [2] [3]

Conservation status

This species is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife, [3] but subspecies brevifolia is listed as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife [10] meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat. [11]

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<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.

Philotheca fitzgeraldii is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is an erect, compact or spreading shrub with cylindrical, glandular-warty leaves and white flowers arranged singly in leaf axils and on the ends of branchlets.

<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 nodiflora</i> Species of plant

Philotheca nodiflora is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a weak shrub with more or less cylindrical leaves and blue to pink flowers arranged in compact heads.

Philotheca nutans is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, densely-branched shrub with club-shaped to cylindrical, glandular-warty leaves and pendent, pale yellow to pale red flowers arranged singly in leaf axils.

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

Philotheca pachyphylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a small shrub with fleshy, oblong, prominently glandular-warty leaves and white flowers arranged singly in leaf axils.

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

Philotheca pinoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, erect undershrub with needle-shaped, glandular-warty leaves and pale pink or red flowers arranged singly or in groups of up to three in the axil of leaves at the end of branchlets.

Philotheca rhomboidea is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small undershrub with thick, broadly elliptic to round leaves and white to pale pink flowers arranged singly or in twos or threes at the end of branchlets.

<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.

<i>Philotheca tomentella</i>

Philotheca tomentella is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an undershrub with small club-shaped to cylindrical leaves and white flowers with a pale red central stripe, arranged singly or in groups of up to four on the ends of branchlets.

References

  1. 1 2 "Philotheca deserti". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  2. 1 2 Wilson, Paul G.; Wilson, Annette J.G. (ed.) (2013). Flora of Australia (Volume 26). Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study. pp. 375–376. Retrieved 2 August 2020.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  3. 1 2 3 "Philotheca deserti". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  4. Pritzel, Ernst Georg; Diels, Ludwig (ed.) (1904). "Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae occidentalis. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Pflanzen Westaustraliens, ihrer Verbreitung und ihrer Lebensverhaltnisse". Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie. 35 (3): 320. Retrieved 2 August 2020.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  5. "Eriostemon desertii". APNI. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  6. "Philotheca deserti". APNI. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 Wilson, Paul G. (1998). "A Taxonomic Review of the genera Eriostemon and Philotheca". Nuytsia. 12 (2): 248. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  8. "Philotheca deserti subsp. brevifolia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  9. "Philotheca deserti subsp. deserti". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  10. "Philotheca deserti subsp. brevifolia". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  11. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 2 August 2020.