| Sprengelia sprengelioides | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Near Cooloola, Queensland | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Sprengelia |
| Species: | S. sprengelioides |
| Binomial name | |
| Sprengelia sprengelioides | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Sprengelia sprengelioides is a species of flowering plant of the family Ericaceae, and is endemic to near-coastal areas of eastern Australia. It is an erect shrub with egg-shaped leaves, and white flowers arranged singly in leaf axils.
Sprengelia sprengelioides is an erect, glabrous shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.3–1 m (1 ft 0 in – 3 ft 3 in) and has wiry stems. The leaves are egg-shaped, 4–12 mm (0.16–0.47 in) long and 1.5–3.2 mm (0.059–0.126 in) wide with a small point on the end and minute teeth on the edges. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils, with egg-shaped bracts 7–8 mm (0.28–0.31 in) long at the base. The sepals are broad, green, egg-shaped, and 6–10 mm (0.24–0.39 in) long. The petals white, joined at the base to form a tube 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) long with lobes 6 mm (0.24 in) long. Flowering occurs from June to September and the fruit is a capsule about 2.5 mm (0.098 in) in diameter. [2] [3] [4]
This species was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown who gave it the name Ponceletia sprengelioides in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen . [5] [6] In 1917, George Claridge Druce changed the name to Sprengelia sprengelioides in the supplement to The Botanical Exchange Club and Society of the British Isles Report for 1916. [7] The specific epithet (sprengelioides) means "Sprengelia-like". (This species was originally in the genus Ponceletia.) [3]
Sprengelia sprengelioides grows swampy heath, sometimes with Banksia robur or species of Xyris . It occurs in near-coastal areas of south-eastern Queensland, and south to the Sydney region of New South Wales. [2] [8]