Andersonia latiflora explained

Andersonia latiflora is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, straggling shrub with egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves and white flowers.

Description

Andersonia latiflora is an erect, straggling shrub that typically grows to a height of less than . Its leaves are egg-shaped to lance-shaped with a pointed tip, mostly long and wide with the ends curved backwards. The flowers are arranged in clusters of five to twenty on the ends of branches and have egg-shaped bracts and boat-shaped bracteoles often twice as long as the bracts. The sepals are oblong, long, usually about twice as long as the bracts. The petals are white, forming a tube shorter than the sepals, with lobes about half as long as the petal tube and bearded in the lower half. The stamens are about as long as the petal tube, the anthers linear, long.[1]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1867 by Ferdinand von Mueller, who gave it the name Sprengelia latiflora in his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae.[2] [3] In 1868, George Bentham transferred the species to Andersonia as A. latifolia in his Flora Australiensis.[4] The specific epithet (latifolia) means 'broad-flowered'.[5]

Distribution and habitat

This species of Andersonia grows in gravelly soils in the Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

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

Notes and References

  1. Watson . Leslie . A taxonomic revision of the genus Andersonia R.Br. (Epacridaceae). . Kew Bulletin . 1962 . 16 . 1 . 119–120 . 11 November 2024.
  2. Web site: Sprengelia latiflora . APNI . 11 November 2024.
  3. Book: von Mueller . Ferdinand . Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae . 6 . 1867 . Victorian Government Printer . Melbourne . 61 . 11 November 2024.
  4. Web site: Andersonia latiflora . APNI . 11 November 2024.
  5. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 236 . 3rd.