Spyridium ulicinum is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a tall shrub with linear to oblong leaves, and single or small groups of white flowers.

Spyridium ulicinum
In the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rhamnaceae
Genus: Spyridium
Species:
S. ulicinum
Binomial name
Spyridium ulicinum
Synonyms[1]
  • Cryptandra ulicina Hook.
  • Stenodiscus ulicinus (Hook.) Reissek

Description

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Spyridium ulicinum is an upright, heath-like shrub that typically grows to a height of 2 m (6 ft 7 in) or more, and has many branches. The leaves are linear to oblong, mostly less and arranged singly, in pairs or groups of 3 near the ends of short side-branches with overlapping brown bracts at the base of each flower. The sepals are about 5.3 mm (0.21 in) long, and silky-hairy.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy

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This species was first formally described in 1855 by William Jackson Hooker who gave it the name Cryptandra ulicina and published the description in his journal, The Journal of Botany.[5][6] In 1863, George Bentham changed the name to Spyridium ulicinum in the Flora Australiensis.[7] The specific epithet (ulicinum) means "Ulex-like".[8]

Distribution and habitat

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Spyridium ulicinum is widespread but not common and grows in woodland in Tasmania.[3][4]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Spyridium subochreatum". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  2. ^ Bentham, George (1863). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 1. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 434. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b Rodway, Leonard (1903). The Tasmanian Flora. Hobart: Tasmanian Government Printer. p. 28. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b Jordan, Greg. "Spyridium ulicinum". University of Tasmania. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  5. ^ "Cryptandra ulicina". APNI. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  6. ^ Hooker, William Jackson (1834). "Contributions Towards a Flora of Van Dieman's Land; from collections sent by R. W. Lawrence, and Ronald Gunn, Esqrs., and by Dr. Scott". The Journal of Botany. 1: 257. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Spyridium ulicinum". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  8. ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 331. ISBN 9780958034180.