Micromyrtus sulphurea explained

Micromyrtus sulphurea is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the inland of Western Australia. It is a commonly stunted or widely spreading shrub with narrowly oblong leaves pressed against the stem, and yellow flowers with 10 stamens.

Description

Micromyrtus sulphurea is a commonly stunted or widely-spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of . Its leaves are narrowly oblong and more or less pressed against the stem, long and long on a petiole up to long with a 5 to 10 oil glands on the lower surface. The flowers are arranged in racemes in 2 to 10 upper leaf axils and are in diameter on a peduncle mostly long. The floral tube is cylindrical and long, the sepals widely spreading, long and wide and yellow. The petals are very broadly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, and sulfur-yellow, long. Flowering has mostly been recorded from August to October and the fruit is about long, containing a single seed.[1]

Taxonomy

Micromyrtus sulphurea was first formally described in 1904 by William Vincent Fitzgerald in the Journal of the West Australian Natural History Society from specimens he collected "½ mile west of Mount Magnet".[2] [3] The specific epithet (sulphurea) means "like sulphur".[4]

Distribution and habitat

Micromyrtus sulphurea grows on sand dunes, sandplains on breakaways and granite outcrops from near Lake Rason to Queen Victoria Spring in the Gascoyne, Murchison and Yalgoo bioregions of inland Western Australia.

Conservation status

This species of micromyrtus is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

Notes and References

  1. Rye . Barbara L. . A partial revision of the south-western Australian species of Micromyrtus (Myrtaceae: Chamelaucieae). . Nuytsia . 2006 . 16 . 1 . 141–142 . 8 March 2024.
  2. Web site: Micromyrtus stenocalyx. APNI. 8 March 2024.
  3. Fitzgerald . William Vincent . Additions to the West Australian Flora. . Journal of the West Australian Natural History Society . 1904 . 2 . 1 . 19 . 8 March 2024.
  4. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 318 . 3rd.