Sannantha bidwillii explained

Sannantha bidwillii is a species in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to coastal Queensland in Australia. It is a shrub or tree with elliptic to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and clusters of 3 white flowers.

Description

Sannantha bidwillii is a shrub or tree that typically grows to a height of up to and has scaly to fibrous bark. It leaves are elliptic to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged in leaf axils, usually in clusters of 3 on a peduncle long, each flower on a pedicel long with 2 linear bracts at the base, but that fall off as the flowers develop. The floral tube is long, the sepal lobes long. The petals are long and wide and there are usually 7 to 10 stamens. Flowering occurs from October to December and the fruit is a hemispherical, capsule in diameter.[1] [2]

Taxonomy

This species was by first formally described in 1999 Anthony Bean who gave it the name Babingtonia virgata in the journal Austrobaileya from specimens he collected in the Yurol State Forest near Cooroy in 1993.[3] In 2007, Peter Gordon Wilson changed the name to Sannantha bidwillii in Australian Systematic Botany.[4] The specific epithet (bidwillii) honours John Carne Bidwill, who collected the first known specimen of this species.

Distribution and habitat

Sannantha bidwillii grows in eucalypt forest in coastal lowland between Shoalwater Bay and Brisbane in Queensland.

Conservation status

This species is listed as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Baeckea virgata = Sannantha spp. . James Cook University . 23 April 2023.
  2. Bean . Anthony R. . A revision of the Babingtonia virgata (J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.) F.Muell. complex (Myrtaceae) in Australia. . Austrobaileya . 1999 . 5 . 2 . 161–162 . 23 April 2023.
  3. Web site: Babingtonia bidwillii. APNI. 22 April 2023.
  4. Web site: Sannantha bidwillii. APNI. 22 April 2023.
  5. Web site: Species profile—Sannantha bidwillii . Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science . 23 April 2023.