Pomaderris helianthemifolia explained

Pomaderris helianthemifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is a bushy shrub with hairy young stems, narrowly elliptic to lance-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and small panicles of hairy yellowish flowers.

Description

Pomaderris helianthemifolia is a bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of, its stems covered with greyish to rust-coloured, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are narrowly elliptic to lance-shaped or oblong, long and wide with stipules long at the base but that fall off as the leaf develops. The upper surface of the leaves glabrous and the lower surface is densely covered with soft, greyish, star-shaped hairs. The flowers are borne in panicles of about twenty to fifty and are yellowish. The sepals are long but fall of as the flowers mature and there are no petals.^{[1] [2]}

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1858 by Siegfried Reissek who gave it the name Trymalium helianthemifolium in Linnaea: ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange, oder Beiträge zur Pflanzenkunde, from specimens collected by Ferdinand von Mueller in "Gipps Land".^{[3] [4]} In 1951, Norman Arthur Wakefield changed the name to Pomaderris helianthemifolia in The Victorian Naturalist.^{[5] [6]}

In 1997, Neville Grant Walsh and F. Coates described two subspecies in the journal Muelleria, and the names and those of the autonym are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

• Pomaderris helianthemifolia (Reissek) N.A.Wakef. subsp. helianthemifolia (the autonym);^{[7] [8]}
• Pomaderris helianthemifolia subsp. hispida N.G.Walsh & Coates^[9] has leaves long with stiff bristles or hairs on the upper surface;^{[10] [11] [12]}
• Pomaderris helianthemifolia subsp. minor N.G.Walsh & Coates^[13] has leaves long with stiff bristles or hairs on the upper surface.^[14]

Distribution and habitat

This pomaderris usually grows on the banks of rocky streams. Subspecies helianthemifolia is only known from two restricted areas in Gippsland, in the Maffra-Briagolong area and near the Genoa River. Subspecies hispida is widespread, but not common in a few locations in New South Wales and in north-eastern Victoria and subspecies minor is found in north-eastern Victoria, but no longer occurs near Bendigo.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Harden . Gwen J. . Pomaderris helianthemifolia . Royal Botanic Garden Sydney . 28 February 2022.
2. Web site: Walsh . Neville G. . Pomaderris helianthemifolia . Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria . 28 February 2022.
3. Web site: Trymalium helianthemifolium . Australian Plant Name Index . 28 February 2022.
4. Reissek . Siegfried . Plantae Muellerianae Australasicae - Celastrineae, Rhamneae . Linnaea: Ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange, oder Beiträge zur Pflanzenkunde . 1858 . 29 . 3 . 271–272 . 28 February 2022.
5. Web site: Pomaderris helianthemifolium . Australian Plant Name Index . 28 February 2022.
6. Wakefield . Norman A. . New species of Pomaderris . The Victorian Naturalist . 1951 . 68 . 8 . 141 . 28 February 2022.
7. Web site: Pomaderris helianthemifolia subsp. helianthemifolia . Australian Plant Census . 28 February 2022.
8. Web site: Walsh . Neville G. . Pomaderris helianthemifolia subsp. helianthemifolia . Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria . 28 February 2022.
9. Web site: Pomaderris helianthemifolia subsp. hispida . Australian Plant Census . 28 February 2022.
10. Walsh . Neville G. . Coates . F. . New taxa, new combinations and an infrageneric classification in Pomaderris (Rhamnaceae) . Muelleria . 1997 . 10 . 31–34 . 28 February 2022.
11. Web site: Pomaderris helianthemifolia subsp. hispida . Royal Botanic Garden Sydney . 28 February 2022.
12. Web site: Walsh . Neville G. . Pomaderris helianthemifolia subsp. hispida . Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria . 28 February 2022.
13. Web site: Pomaderris helianthemifolia subsp. minor . Australian Plant Census . 28 February 2022.
14. Web site: Walsh . Neville G. . Pomaderris helianthemifolia subsp. minor . Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria . 28 February 2022.