Stackhousia monogyna
Species of plant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stackhousia monogyna, commonly known as creamy stackhousia or creamy candles,[2] is a flowering plant in the family Celastraceae. It is a small multi-stemmed plant with narrow leaves and terminal spikes of white, cream or yellow flowers. It is a widespread species found in all states of Australia but not the Northern Territory.
| Creamy stackhousia | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Celastrales |
| Family: | Celastraceae |
| Genus: | Stackhousia |
| Species: | S. monogyna |
| Binomial name | |
| Stackhousia monogyna | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Description
Stackhousia monogyna is a slender, multi-stemmed, perennial herb to 70 cm (28 in) high, covered with soft hairs or smooth on upright or ascending stems. The leaves are dark green, mostly narrow, linear to lance-shaped, up to 30 mm (1.2 in) long, 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) wide and rounded, acute or with a short point at the apex. The inflorescence consists of numerous white, cream or yellow flowers in a densely-packed cylindrical spike, each flower is tubular with five pointed spreading lobes up to 5 mm (0.20 in) long. Flowering occurs from late winter to early summer and the fruit is a wide oval or ellipsoid shaped mericarp, wrinkled to veined and 1.9–2.8 mm (0.075–0.110 in) long.[3][4]
Taxonomy and naming
The species was described in 1861 by Ferdinand von Mueller as Desdemodium acanthocladum.[5][6] In 1805 French naturalist Jacques Labillardière changed the name to Stackhousia monogyna and the description was published in Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen.[7][8] The specific epithet (monogyna) means "one", probably referring to the one-seeded fruit.[9]
