Haemodorum brevicaule
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Haemodorum brevicaule | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Commelinales |
| Family: | Haemodoraceae |
| Genus: | Haemodorum |
| Species: | H. brevicaule |
| Binomial name | |
| Haemodorum brevicaule | |
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| H. brevicaule Collection data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium | |
Haemodorum brevicaule is a perennial herb from 0.025 to 0.3 m tall, in the bloodroot family, the Haemodoraceae,[2] native to northern Australia.[3] It has deep-red to purplish-black flowers[4] which are seen from September to December, and it grows on red clay and basalt.[2]
The name, Haemodorum, was chosen by Smith in 1798[5] for the blood-red root, haem- being Greek for blood-red.[6] Mueller[1] in 1858, gave this species the specific epithet, brevicaule, which derives from the Latin brevi- (short),[7] and caulis (stem),[8] giving the meaning 'short-stemmed'.
Description
It has flat, hairless, leaves about 9 to 31 cm long and 0.5 to 2 mm wide, and a smooth scape about 9 cm to 13 cm long. The perianth is formed of two rings of three tepals which are uniformly red, red-brown, purple or black.[2] It has three stamens all at the same level with the filaments being 1 to 1.2 mm long and having slightly longer anthers. The plant flowers from September to December.[2]