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
In Lesueur National Park
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Styphelia
Species:
S. microdonta
Binomial name
Styphelia microdonta
(Benth.) F.Muell.[1]
Synonyms[1]

Astroloma microdonta F.Muell.

Description

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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]

Taxonomy and naming

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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]

Distribution

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This styphelia grows in near-coastal areas of the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.[5]

Conservation status

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Styphelia microdonta is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Styphelia microdonta". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b Bentham, George (1868). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 4. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 155. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Astroloma microdonta". APNI. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  4. ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 252. ISBN 9780958034180.
  5. ^ a b "Styphelia microdonta (Benth.) F.Muell". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.