Philotheca gardneri
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Philotheca gardneri | |
|---|---|
 | |
| In the Australian National Botanic Gardens | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Rutaceae |
| Genus: | Philotheca |
| Species: | P. gardneri |
| Binomial name | |
| Philotheca gardneri (Paul G.Wilson) Paul G.Wilson[1] | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Philotheca gardneri is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with crowded, narrow club-shaped or more or less spherical leaves and white flowers with a prominent pink midrib, usually borne singly on the ends of branchlets.
Philotheca gardneri is a shrub that grows to a height of 1–1.5 m (3 ft 3 in – 4 ft 11 in) with corky branchlets. The leaves are cylindrical to narrow club-shaped, about 5–8 mm (0.20–0.31 in) long or more or less spherical and 1.5–2 mm (0.059–0.079 in) long. The flowers are usually borne singly on the ends of the branchlets, each flower on a fleshy pedicel 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) long. There are five egg-shaped sepals about 1.5 mm (0.059 in) long and five egg-shaped white petals about 6 mm (0.24 in) long with a prominent pink midrib. The ten hairy stamens are free from each other. Flowering occurs from April to October.[2][3][4]
Taxonomy and naming
This philotheca was first formally described in 1970 by Paul Wilson who gave it the name Eriostemon gardneri and published the description in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected by Charles Gardner near Jerramungup in 1939.[3][5] In 1998, Wilson changed the name to Philotheca gardneri in the same journal and described two subspecies:[6][7]
- Philotheca gardneri (A.Cunn. ex Endl.) Paul G. Wilson subsp. gardneri[8] has narrow club-shaped leaves 5–8 mm (0.20–0.31 in) long;[7]
- Philotheca gardneri subsp. globosa Paul G. Wilson[9] has more or less spherical leaves 1.5–2 mm (0.059–0.079 in) long.
The specific epithet (gardneri) honours the collector of the type specimens, Charles Gardner[3] and globosa refers to the shape of the leaves.[7]