Spyridium oligocephalum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Spyridium oligocephalum | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rhamnaceae |
| Genus: | Spyridium |
| Species: | S. oligocephalum |
| Binomial name | |
| Spyridium oligocephalum | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Spyridium oligocephalum is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.6–1.5 m (2 ft 0 in – 4 ft 11 in), its leaves glabrous except when very young. There are large, papery, orange-brown stipules joined in pairs at their bases, at the base of the petiole. The flowers are arranged in head-like, condensed cymes on the ends of branchlets. The sepals are about 1 mm (0.039 in) long and densely covered with hairs 0.3–0.5 mm (0.012–0.020 in) long.[2][3][4][5]
This species was first formally described in 1858 by Nikolai Turczaninow, who gave it the name Trimalium oligocephalum in the Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou.[6][7] In 1863, George Bentham changed the name to Spyridium oligocephalum in Flora Australiensis.[2][8] The specific epithet (oligocephalum) means "few-headed".[9]
Spyridium oligocephalum grows in sandy soil on sandplains in the Esperance Plains and Jarrah Forest bioregions of south-western Western Australia. It is listed as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions,[3] meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.[10]