Spyridium oligocephalum

Spyridium oligocephalum is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.6–1.5 m (2 ft 0 in – 4 ft 11 in), its leaves glabrous except when very young. There are large, papery, orange-brown stipules joined in pairs at their bases, at the base of the petiole. The flowers are arranged in head-like, condensed cymes on the ends of branchlets. The sepals are about 1 mm (0.039 in) long and densely covered with hairs 0.3–0.5 mm (0.012–0.020 in) long.[2][3][4][5]

Spyridium oligocephalum

Priority Three — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rhamnaceae
Genus: Spyridium
Species:
S. oligocephalum
Binomial name
Spyridium oligocephalum
Synonyms[1]
  • Spyridium kalganense Diels
  • Trymalium oligocephalum Turcz.

This species was first formally described in 1858 by Nikolai Turczaninow, who gave it the name Trimalium oligocephalum in the Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou.[6][7] In 1863, George Bentham changed the name to Spyridium oligocephalum in Flora Australiensis.[2][8] The specific epithet (oligocephalum) means "few-headed".[9]

Spyridium oligocephalum grows in sandy soil on sandplains in the Esperance Plains and Jarrah Forest bioregions of south-western Western Australia. It is listed as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions,[3] meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.[10]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Spyridium oligocephalum". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b Bentham, George; von Mueller, Ferdinand (1863). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 1. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 433. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Spyridium oligocephalum". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  4. ^ Rye, Barbara L. (1995). "New and priority taxa in the genera Spyridium and Trymalium (Rhamnaceae) of Western Australia". Nuytsia. 10 (1): 127. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  5. ^ Rye, Barbara L. (1996). "A synopsis of the genera Pomaderris, Siegfriedia, Spyridium and Trymalium (Rhamnaceae) in Western Australia". Nuytsia. 11 (1): 117–123. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Trimalium oligocephalum". APNI. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  7. ^ Turczaninow, Nikolai (1858). "Animadversiones in secundam partem herbarii Turczaninow, nunc Universitatis Caesareae Charkowiensis". Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou. 31 (1): 460. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Spyridium oligocephalum". APNI. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  9. ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 265. ISBN 9780958034180.
  10. ^ "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 18 October 2022.