Brachyloma ciliatum explained

Brachyloma ciliatum, commonly known as fringed brachyloma or fringed daphne heath,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a low-lying or erect shrub with upwards-pointing, egg-shaped to oblong leaves and white, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

Brachyloma ciliatum is a low-lying or erect shrub that typically grows to a height of about and forms suckers. Its branchlets are softly- or shaggy-hairy. The leaves are directed upwards, egg-shaped to oblong, long and wide with a small point on the tip. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils on a peduncle long, with egg-shaped bracteoles long at the base. The sepals are egg-shaped, long and the petals white, joined to form a cylindrical tube long with spreading to curved lobes long and bearded inside. Flowering occurs from October to January and the fruit is a glabrous, oval to spherical drupe long.[2]

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described 1810 by Robert Brown, who gave it the name Lissanthe ciliata in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.[3] [4] In 1868, George Bentham changed the name to Brachyloma ciliatum in Flora Australiensis.[5] The specific epithet (ciliatum) means "fringed with fine hairs".[6]

Distribution

Brachyloma ciliatum grows in heathland and woodland, in the west of Victoria, and in the north, east and south-east of Tasmania.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Brachyloma ciliatum . State Herbarium of South Australia . 16 September 2023.
  2. Web site: Albrecht . David E. . Stajsic . Val . Brachyloma ciliatum . Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria . 16 September 2023.
  3. Web site: Lissanthe ciliata . Australian Plant Name Index . 16 September 2023.
  4. Book: Brown . Robert . Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen . 1810 . London . 541 . 16 September 2023.
  5. Web site: Brachyloma ciliata . Australian Plant Name Index . 16 September 2023.
  6. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 163 . 3rd.
  7. Web site: Jordan . Greg . Brachyloma ciliatum . University of Tasmania . 16 September 2023.