Woollsia

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Woollsia
Wildflower Woodford Blue Mountains.jpg
Blue Mountains National Park, Australia
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Subfamily: Epacridoideae
Tribe: Epacrideae
Genus: Woollsia
F.Muell.
Species:
W. pungens
Binomial name
Woollsia pungens

Woollsia is a monotypic genus in the family Ericaceae. The sole species, Woollsia pungens, known as snow heath, is a small shrub found in eastern Australia, from Pigeon House Mountain in southern New South Wales north into Queensland. [1]

Contents

Taxonomy

Antonio José Cavanilles described the species as Epacris pungens in 1797, from material collected in the Sydney district. [2] Victorian state botanist Ferdinand von Mueller proposed the new genus Woollsia in 1873, [3] though did not publish its new binomial name until 1875. [4] [5] The genus name honours William Woolls.

Genetic analysis shows that it is an early offshoot of a lineage that includes Lysinema ciliatum and the genus Epacris . [6] [7]

'Snow heath' is a common name. [8]

Distribution and habitat

In the Sydney region, Woollsia pungens grows in heathland with such species as saw banksia ( Banksia serrata ), mountain devil ( Lambertia formosa ), grasstree ( Xanthorrhoea resinifera ), and open sclerophyll forest under such trees as Sydney peppermint ( Eucalyptus piperita ), scribbly gum ( E. haemastoma ) and red bloodwood ( Corymbia gummifera ). [9]

Ecology

Plants are thought to live 10–20 years in the wild. They are generally killed by bushfire, with new seedlings growing from seed stored in the soil. [9]

Cultivation

In cultivation, it grows best in a part-shaded spot with good drainage and ample moisture. It can be propagated by cuttings or seed. [8]

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<i>Leucopogon allittii</i> Species of shrub

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<i>Leucopogon breviflorus</i> Species of plant

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<i>Leucopogon exolasius</i> Species of plant

Leucopogon exolasius, commonly known as Woronora beard-heath, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It is an erect shrub with oblong or elliptic leaves, and drooping, white, tube-shaped flowers.

References

  1. Powell, J.M. "Genus Woollsia". PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online. Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
  2. Cavanilles, Antonio J. (1797). Icones et Descriptiones Plantarum (in Latin). Vol. 4. Madrid: Ex Regia Typographia (Eius operas dirigente Petro Iuliano Pereyra). p. 26.
  3. Mueller, Ferdinand von (1873). Fragmenta phytographiæ Australiæ (in Latin). Vol. 8. Melbourne: Auctoritate Gubern. Coloniæ Victoriæ, Ex Officina Joannis Ferres. p. 55.
  4. Mueller, Ferdinand von (1875). Fragmenta phytographiæ Australiæ (in Latin). Vol. 9. Melbourne: Auctoritate Gubern. Coloniæ Victoriæ, Ex Officina Joannis Ferres. p. 48.
  5. https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/search?product=apni&tree.id=3029293&name=Woollsia+pungens&inc._scientific=&inc._scientific=on&inc._cultivar=&inc._other=&max=100&display=apni&search=true [ dead link ]
  6. Quinn, Christopher J.; Crowden, Ronald K.; Brown, Elizabeth A.; Southam, Michael J.; Thornhill, Andrew H.; Crayn, Darren M. (2015). "A reappraisal of the generic concepts of Epacris, Rupicola and Budawangia (Ericaceae, Epacridoideae, Epacrideae) based on phylogenetic analysis of morphological and molecular data". Australian Systematic Botany. 28: 63. doi:10.1071/SB13009. S2CID   85849925.
  7. Johnson, Karen A.; Holland, Barbara R.; Heslewood, Margaret M.; Crayn, Darren M. (2012). "Supermatrices, supertrees and serendipitous scaffolding: Inferring a well-resolved, genus-level phylogeny of Styphelioideae (Ericaceae) despite missing data". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 62 (1): 146–158. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.09.011. PMID   21967784.
  8. 1 2 Walters, Brian (February 2017). "Woollsia pungens". ANPSA - Guide to Australian Plants. ANPSA. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  9. 1 2 Benson, Doug; McDougall, Lyn (1995). "Ecology of Sydney Plants 3: families Cabombaceae to Eupomatiaceae" (PDF). Cunninghamia. 4 (2): 217–429 [390]. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2019.