Styphelia

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Styphelia
Styphelia tubiflora Ku-ring-gai Chase NP.JPG
Styphelia tubiflora
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Subfamily: Epacridoideae
Tribe: Styphelieae
Genus: Styphelia
Sm. [1]
Styphelia conostephioides Leucopogon conostephioides - Flickr - Kevin Thiele.jpg
Styphelia conostephioides
Styphelia discolor Candle Cranberry - Flickr - jeans Photos.jpg
Styphelia discolor
Styphelia epacridis Styphelia epacridis.jpg
Styphelia epacridis
Styphelia lissanthoides Leucopogon cuneifolius.jpg
Styphelia lissanthoides
Styphelia foliosa Styphelia foliosa.jpg
Styphelia foliosa
Styphelia perileuca Styphelia perileuca.jpg
Styphelia perileuca
Styphelia stomarrhena Astroloma stomarrhena (8696078630).jpg
Styphelia stomarrhena
Styphelia viridis Styphelia viridis (5969284894).jpg
Styphelia viridis

Styphelia is a genus of shrubs in the family Ericaceae, native from Indo-China through the Pacific to Australia. [2] Most have minute or small leaves with a sharp tip, single, tube-shaped flowers arranged in leaf axils and with the ends of the petals rolled back with hairs in the inside of the tube.

Description

Plants in the genus Styphelia are usually erect or spreading shrubs that have egg-shaped, elliptical or oblong, more or less sessile leaves with many fine, almost parallel veins and a sharp point on the tip. The flowers are usually arranged singly in leaf axils with small bracts grading to larger bracteoles at the base and five, usually coloured sepals. The petals are fused to form a cylindrical tube with their tips rolled back. The inside of the petal tube is hairy and the five stamens and thread-like style extend beyond the end of the tube. The fruit is a drupe with a dry or slightly fleshy mesocarp and a hard endocarp. [3] [4] [5]

Taxonomy and naming

The genus Styphelia was first formally described in 1795 by James Edward Smith in his book A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland . [6] [7] The name Styphelia is from an ancient Greek word meaning "tough" or "harsh", referring to the "stiff, prickly leaves and general habit" of the genus. [8]

Species list

The following is a list of species of Styphelia accepted by Plants of the World Online as at October 2022: [2]

Distribution

Species of Styphelia occur in all Australian mainland states, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. [9] Other species are found northwards to Indo-China. [2]

Related Research Articles

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Leucopogon is a genus of about 150-160 species of shrubs or small trees in the family Ericaceae, in the section of that family formerly treated as the separate family Epacridaceae. They are native to Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, the western Pacific Islands and Malaysia, with the greatest species diversity in the south-west of Western Australia. Plants in this genus have leaves with a few more or less parallel veins, and tube-shaped flowers usually with a white beard inside.

<i>Prostanthera</i> Genus of plants

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Epacris is a genus of about forty species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. It was formerly treated in a closely related but separate family Epacridaceae, but the various genera within Epacridaceae including Epacris have been revised in their relationships to each other and brought under the common umbrella of the Ericaceae. The genus Epacris is native to eastern and southeastern Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand. The species are known as heaths or Australian heaths.

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

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

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<i>Swainsona</i> Genus of legumes

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

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.

<i>Mirbelia</i> Genus of legumes

Mirbelia is a plant genus belonging to the family Fabaceae and is endemic to Australia, occurring in every mainland state except South Australia. Plants in the genus Mirbelia are prickly, perennial shrubs with simple, sometimes sharply-pointed leaves, or the leaves absent. The flowers are arranged singly or in groups in leaf axils or on the ends of branches, the sepals joined at the base with five teeth. The petals are usually red, orange, purplish or bluish and the fruit is an inflated pod.

<i>Gompholobium</i> Genus of legumes

Gompholobium, commonly known as glory peas or wedge-peas, is a genus of plants in the pea family Fabaceae and is endemic to Australia. Most species have compound leaves composed of three leaflets and all have ten stamens which are free from each other and a distinctive arrangement of their sepals.

Astroloma is a historically recognised genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae and endemic to Australia.

<i>Bossiaea</i> Genus of legumes

Bossiaea is a genus of about 78 species of flowering plants in the pea family Fabaceae and is endemic to Australia. Plants in this genus often have stems and branches modified as cladodes, simple, often much reduced leaves, flowers with the upper two sepal lobes larger than the lower three, usually orange to yellow petals with reddish markings, and the fruit a more or less flattened pod.

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

Acrotriche is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. Species occur in all states of Australia.

<i>Daviesia</i> Genus of plants

Daviesia, commonly known as bitter-peas, is a genus of about 130 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, and is endemic to Australia. Plants in the genus Daviesia are shrubs or small trees with leaves modified as phyllodes or reduced to scales. The flowers are arranged singly or in groups, usually in leaf axils, the sepals joined at the base with five teeth, the petals usually yellowish with reddish markings and the fruit a pod.

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

Brachyloma is a genus of about 16 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae and is endemic to Australia. Plants in the genus Brachyloma are shrubs with more or less erect leaves and bisexual flowers usually arranged singly in leaf axils, the 5 petals fused to form a cylindrical or bell-shaped tube, the stamens sometimes enclosed in the petal tube.

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

Trochocarpa is a genus of shrubs or small trees, of the plant family Ericaceae. They occur naturally through coastal and montane eastern Australian rainforests and mountain shrublands and in New Guinea, Borneo and Sulawesi (Malesia).

References

  1. "Styphelia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "Styphelia Sm." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  3. "Genus Styphelia". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  4. "Styphelia". Royal Botanic Gardens, Victoria. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  5. "Styphelia Sm". FloraBase. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  6. "Styphelia Sm". APNI. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  7. Smith, James Edward (1795). A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland. London: J. Sowerby. p. 45. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  8. Francis Aubie Sharr (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings. Kardinya, Western Australia: Four Gables Press. p. 116. ISBN   9780958034180.
  9. "Styphelia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 22 October 2022.