Stachystemon brachyphyllus is a species of flowering plant in the family Picrodendraceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a monoecious shrub with simple, narrowly elliptic to elliptic or oblong leaves and small yellow, red, purple and brown flowers arranged singly in upper leaf axils.
| Stachystemon brachyphyllus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Picrodendraceae |
| Genus: | Stachystemon |
| Species: | S. brachyphyllus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Stachystemon brachyphyllus | |
Description edit
Stachystemon brachyphyllus is a diffuse to compact shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 70 cm (28 in) and has glabrous branchlets. Its leaves are narrowly elliptic to elliptic or oblong, 3.2–6.7 mm (0.13–0.26 in) long and 1.1–1.9 mm (0.043–0.075 in) wide on a petiole 0.3–0.5 mm (0.012–0.020 in) long with reddish brown, narrowly triangular to triangular stipules 0.5–1.7 mm (0.020–0.067 in) long at the base. Both sides of the leaves are more or less glabrous. The flowers are arranged singly in upper leaf axils forming clusters on the ends of branches with reddish brown, bract-like leaves at the base. Male flowers are on a stout pedicel 1.5–3.5 mm (0.059–0.138 in) long, usually with 6 more or less similar red tepals 1.7–3.3 mm (0.067–0.130 in) long and 0.5–1 mm (0.020–0.039 in) wide and there are 25 or more stamens, the anthers purplish red or brown. Female flowers have 6 yellow tepals 2.0–4.1 mm (0.079–0.161 in) long and 1.5–1.9 mm (0.059–0.075 in) wide. Flowering occurs from June to January, and the fruit is a flattened oval capsule 4.7–5.0 mm (0.19–0.20 in) long and 3.5–3.8 mm (0.14–0.15 in) in diameter.[2][3][4]
Taxonomy and naming edit
Stachystemon brachyphyllus was first formally described in 1863 by Johannes Müller Argoviensis in the journal Linnaea from specimens collected by James Drummond in the Swan River Colony in 1848.[5][6] The specific epithet (brachyphyllus) means "short-leaved".[7]
Distribution and habitat edit
This stachystemon grows on dunes and flats in heath, mallee and low woodland from Wongan Hills to the Cape Arid National Park in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Mallee and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.[2][3][4]
References edit
- ^ "Stachystemon brachyphyllus". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
- ^ a b "Stachystemon brachyphyllus". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ a b Halford, David A.; Henderson, Rodney J.F. (2003). "Studies in Euphorbiaceae A.L.Juss. sens. lat. 5. A revision of Pseudanthus Sieber ex Spreng. and Stachystemon Planch. (Oldfieldioideae Kohler & Webster, Caletieae Mull.Arg.)". Austrobaileya. 6 (3): 518–519. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
- ^ a b "Stachystemon brachyphyllus". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
- ^ "Stachystemon brachyphyllus". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
- ^ Müller Argovensis, Johannes (1863). "Euphorbiaceae. Vorlaufige Mittheilungen aus dem fur De Candolle's Prodromus bestimmten Manuscript uber diese Familie". Linnaea: ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange, oder Beiträge zur Pflanzenkunde. 32: 76. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 149. ISBN 9780958034180.