Micromyrtus flaviflora explained

Micromyrtus flaviflora is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to inland areas of Australia. It is an erect shrub with overlapping, keeled, oblong leaves, and yellow flowers arranged singly in leaf axils, but often appearing clustered.

Description

Micromyrtus flaviflora is an erect, loose or spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of and has reddish-brown, papery bark. Its leaves are oblong, long and wide and keeled. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils on a peduncle long but often appear clustered on side-branches. There are bracteoles long at the base but fall off as the flowers open. The sepals are about long and wide and the petals are yellow, more or less round and about in diameter. There are 5 stamens, the filaments about long. Flowering occurs in January or from April to November.[1] [2] [3]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1873 by Ferdinand von Mueller who gave it the name Thriptomene flaviflora in his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae from specimens collected by Ernest Giles in the MacDonnell Ranges.[4] [5] In 1926, John McConnell Black transferred the species to the genus Micromyrtus as M. flaviflora.[6] The specific epithet (flaviflora) means "yellow-flowered".[7]

Distribution and habitat

Micromyrtus flaviflora is widespread and common in desert, growing on red, sandy dunes and plains mainly in inland Western Australia, but also in adjacent areas of the Northern Territory and South Australia.

Notes and References

  1. Green . John W. . Thryptomene and Micromyrtus (Myrtaceae) in arid and semi-arid Australia. . Nuytsia . 1980 . 3 . 2 . 201–203 . 12 November 2023.
  2. Web site: Micromyrtus flaviflora . State Herbarium of South Australia . 12 November 2023.
  3. Web site: Micromyrtus flaviflora . Northern Territory Government . 12 November 2023.
  4. Web site: Thriptomene flaviflora . APNI. 12 November 2023.
  5. Book: von Mueller . Ferdinand . Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae . 1873 . 8 . Victorian Government Printer . Melbourne . 13 . 12 November 2023.
  6. Web site: Micromyrtus flaviflora . APNI. 12 November 2023.
  7. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 200 . 3rd.