Cryptandra minutifolia explained

Cryptandra minutifolia is a flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a spreading shrub with oblong to elliptic leaves and clusters of white or pink, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

Cryptandra minutifolia is usually a spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of, its branchlets not spiny, its young stems densely hairy at first. The leaves are oblong to elliptic or narrowly elliptic, long and wide, on a petiole long with stipules long at the base. The upper surface of the leaves is minutely pimply, the lower surface mostly concealed, and there is a downcurved point on the tip. The flowers are white or pink with 8 to 14 broadly egg-shaped floral bracts at the base. The floral tube is long, joined at the base for and densely covered with star-shaped hairs. The sepals are long and densely hairy, the style long. Flowering mainly occurs from June to September, and the fruit is a schizocarp.[1]

Taxonomy and naming

Cryptandra minutifolia was first formally described in 1995 by Barbara Lynette Rye in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected near Mount Madden, south-east of Lake King in 1968.[2] The specific epithet (minutifolia ) means "small-leaved", referring to the leaves being smaller than the flowers.

In the same journal, Rye described two subspecies of C. minutifolia, and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

Distribution and habitat

This cryptandra usually grows on plains in mallee between Manmanning, Carrabin, Dumbleyung and the Ravensthorpe Range in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie Esperance Plains and Mallee bioregions of south-western Western Australia. Subspecies minutifolia has a more easterly distribution than subsp. brevistyla.

Conservation status

Both subspecies of C. minutifolia are listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

Notes and References

  1. Rye . Barbara . New and priority taxa in the genera Cryptandra and Stenanthemum (Rhamnaceae) of Western Australia.. Nuytsia . 1995 . 10 . 2 . 273–275 . 8 January 2023.
  2. Web site: Cryptandra minutifolia. APNI. 8 January 2023.
  3. Web site: Cryptandra minutifolia subsp. brevistyla . Australian Plant Census . 8 January 2023.
  4. Web site: Cryptandra minutifolia subsp. minutifolia . Australian Plant Census . 8 January 2023.