Acrotriche parviflora

Acrotriche parviflora
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Acrotriche
Species:	A. parviflora
Binomial name
Acrotriche parviflora (Stschegl.) Hislop[1]

Acrotriche parviflora is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is an erect, spreading or compact shrub, with oblong to narrowly egg-shaped leaves, and green, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

Acrotriche parviflora is an erect, spreading or compact shrub that typically grows up to 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) high. Its leaves are oblong to narrowly egg-shaped, 6.5–8.5 mm (0.26–0.33 in) long and glaucous. The flowers are arranged in small clusters and almost sessile in leaf axils with broad bracts and bracteoles. The petals are green and joined at the base forming a cylindrical tube and the ovary has 7 to 10 locules.[2][3]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1859 by Sergei Sergeyevich Sheglejev who gave it the name in the journal Decaspora parviflora in the Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou, from specimens collected by James Drummond.[4][5]

In 1869, George Bentham transferred the species to Trochocarpa as T. parviflora in his Flora Australiensis[6]

In 2007, Michael Clyde Hislop suggested that both Sheglejev and Bentham apparently only saw specimens with very immature flower buds, and were misled as to "the species' true affinities". Hislop transferred the species to Acrotriche as A. parviflora.[3] The specific epithet (parviflora) means 'small-flowered'.[3][7]

Distribution and habitat

Acrotriche parviflora grows on flats, slopes, hills, near creeks and slatlakes in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Mallee bioregions of southern Western Australia.[2][3]

Conservation status

This species is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

References

1. "Acrotriche parviflora". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
2. "Acrotriche parviflora". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
3. Hislop, Michael C. (2007). "A new species and a new combination in Acrotriche (Ericaceae: Styphelioideae: Styphelieae), with keys to the Western Australian members of the genus and its closest relative Lissanthe". Nuytsia. 16 (2): 294–296. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
4. "Decaspora parviflora". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
5. Sheglejev, Sergei S. (1859). "Descriptio Epacridearum Novarum". Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou. 32 (1): 10–11. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
6. "Trochocarpa parviflora". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
7. George, Alex; Sharr, Francis (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (4th ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 271. ISBN 9780958034180.