Cryptandra nola explained

Cryptandra nola is a flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to the western region of Western Australia. It is an erect or spreading, spiny shrub with oblong to elliptic leaves and clusters of white, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

Cryptandra nola is an erect or spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of, and has spiny branchlets. 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 hairy to glabrous, the lower surface mostly concealed. The flowers are white and arranged singly, or in groups of up to 8, forming a cluster wide, with about 8 broadly egg-shaped floral bracts about long. The floral tube is hairy, long joined at the base for . The sepals are about long and hairy, the style long. Flowering mainly occurs from June to August, and the fruit is a schizocarp.[1]

Taxonomy and naming

Cryptandra nola was first formally described in 1995 by Barbara Lynette Rye in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected near Mullewa in 1994.[2] The specific epithet (nola ) means "small bell", referring to the shape of the flowers.

Distribution and habitat

This cryptandra grows in sandy soil over granite in the Avon Wheatbelt and Geraldton Sandplains bioregions of Western Australia.

Conservation status

Cryptandra nola is listed as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Rye . Barbara . New and priority taxa in the genera Cryptandra and Stenanthemum (Rhamnaceae) of Western Australia.. Nuytsia . 1995 . 10 . 2 . 275–276 . 8 January 2023.
  2. Web site: Cryptandra nola. APNI. 18 January 2023.
  3. Web site: Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna. Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. 18 January 2023.