Spyridium spadiceum
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| Spyridium spadiceum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| In the Australian National Botanic Gardens | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rhamnaceae |
| Genus: | Spyridium |
| Species: | S. spadiceum |
| Binomial name | |
| Spyridium spadiceum | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
Spyridium spadiceum is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is an erect or semi-prostrate shrub with narrowly oblong to oval leaves and heads of hairy flowers with brown bracts at the base.
Spyridium spadiceum is an erect slender, or weak semi-prostrate shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.15–3 m (5.9 in – 9 ft 10.1 in), its branches covered with soft, sometimes rust-coloured hairs. The leaves are narrowly oblong to oval, 1–3 mm (0.039–0.118 in) long, softly-hairy on the upper surface and white on the lower side, the veins sometimes covered with rust-coloured hairs. The flowers heads are arranged in cymes with many broad, brown bracts at the base. The sepal tube is about 2 mm (0.079 in) long and densely hairy.[2][3]
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1837 by Eduard Fenzl who gave it the name Trymalium spadiceum in Enumeratio plantarum quas in Novae Hollandiae ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus Liber Baro de Hügel.[4][5] In 1863, George Bentham changed the name to Spyridium spadiceum in Flora Australiensis.[6] The specific epithet (spadiceum) means "brown" or "date-coloured", referring to the floral bracts.[7]