Cryptandra alpina, commonly known as alpine pearlflower,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a small, prostrate shrub with slender branches, linear leaves, and tube-shaped white flowers arranged singly on the ends of branches.
| Cryptandra alpina | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rhamnaceae |
| Genus: | Cryptandra |
| Species: | C. alpina
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| Binomial name | |
| Cryptandra alpina | |
Description
editCryptandra alpina is a prostrate shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 20 cm (7.9 in) and has many slender, wiry branches usually less than 15 cm (5.9 in) long. Its leaves are linear, cylindrical and glabrous, 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long and 0.5 mm (0.020 in) wide. The flowers are arranged singly on the ends of branches with broad, overlapping brown bracts at the base, the inner bracts often nearly as long as the sepal tube. The sepals are white and joined at the base, forming a tube more than 4 mm (0.16 in) long and woolly hairy on the outside with egg-shaped lobes slightly shorter than the sepal tube. The petals are white, tube-shaped and form a hood over the stamens.[2][3][4][5]
Taxonomy
editCryptandra alpina was first formally described in 1855 by Joseph Dalton Hooker in The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. Discovery ships Erebus and Terror from specimens collected by Ronald Campbell Gunn.[6][7] The specific epithet (alpina) means "alpine".[8]
Distribution and habitat
editAlpine pearlflower grows in alpine and subalpine areas in the Central Plateau area of Tasmania at an altitude of about 3,800 ft (1,200 m).[4][5]
References
edit- ^ "Cryptandra alpina". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
- ^ a b Mulcahy, Aaron. "Cryptandra alpina". Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
- ^ Bentham, George; von Mueller, Ferdinand (1863). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 1. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. pp. 441–442. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
- ^ a b Rodway, Leonard (1903). The Tasmanian Flora. Hobart: Tasmanian Government Printer. p. 29. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
- ^ a b Jordan, Greg. "Cryptandra". University of Tasmania. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
- ^ "Cryptandra alpina". APNI. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
- ^ Hooker, Joseph Dalton (1860). The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839-1843 :under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross (Part III Flora Tasmaniae). London: Lovell Reeve. p. 75. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
- ^ William T. Stearn (1992). Botanical Latin. History, grammar, syntax, terminology and vocabulary (4th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. p. 367.