Styphelia microdonta | |
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In Lesueur National Park | |
Scientific classification
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Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Ericales |
Family: | Ericaceae |
Genus: | Styphelia |
Species: | S. microdonta
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Binomial name | |
Styphelia microdonta | |
Synonyms [1] | |
Astroloma microdonta F.Muell. |
Styphelia microdonta is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to the south west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with sharply-pointed, lance-shaped leaves and red, tube-shaped flowers that are bearded inside.
Styphelia microdonta is an erect shrub that typically grows up to a height of 60–90 cm (24–35 in) and has wand-like, sometimes softly-hairy branches. Its leaves are lance-shaped and sharply-pointed, mostly about 12 mm (0.47 in) long and minutely toothed. The flowers are red and nearly sessile with small bracts and bracteoles scarcely more than 2 mm (0.079 in) long at the base. The sepals are about 6.5 mm (0.26 in) long, the petals joined at the base to form a tube scarcely longer than the sepals, with lobes as long as the petal tube and densely bearded inside. [2]
This species was first formally described in 1868 by George Bentham who gave it the name Astroloma microdonta in Flora Australiensis from specimens collected near the Murchison River. [2] [3] In 1882 Ferdinand von Mueller transferred the species to Styphelia as S. microdonta in his Systematic Census of Australian Plants. [1] The specific epithet (microdonta) means "small toothed", referring to the leaves and sepals. [4]
This styphelia grows in near-coastal areas of the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia. [5]
Styphelia microdonta is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. [5]