Cryptandra campanulata explained

Cryptandra campanulata is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It is a shrub with narrowly elliptic to narrowly egg-shaped or linear leaves and clusters of white, bell-shaped flowers.

Description

Cryptandra campanulata is a shrub that typically grows to a height of, its branchlets hairy at first but soon glabrous. Its leaves are narrowly elliptic, narrowly egg-shaped or linear, mostly long and wide on a petiole long, with stipules long at the base. The upper surface of the leaves is glabrous and the edges are turned down or rolled under, obscuring the lower surface. The flowers are white and borne singly in up to 20 leaf axils near the ends of branchlets, each flower with 6 to 8 bracts at the base. The floral tube is long, the sepals long and covered with both simple and small, star-shaped hairs. The petals are long, forming a hood over stamens long. Flowering occurs from May to November, and the fruit is long.[1]

Taxonomy and naming

Cryptandra campanulata was first formally described in 1847 by Diederich Franz Leonhard von Schlechtendal in the journal Linnaea.[2] The specific epithet (campanulata) means "bell-shaped", and refers to the large tubular flowers.

Distribution and habitat

This cryptandra grows in shallow soil over rocks, mostly in grassland but also heath and shrubland, and occurs in the southern Flinders Ranges and the northern Mount Lofty Ranges.

Conservation status

Cryptandra campanulata is listed as "Rare" in the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972.

Notes and References

  1. Jürgen . Kellermann . Three species of Cryptandra (Rhamnaceae: Pomaderreae) from southern Australia allied to C. tomentosa. . Swainsonia . 2020 . 33 . 131–133 . 20 October 2022.
  2. Web site: Cryptandra campanulata. APNI. 20 October 2022.