Sannantha brachypoda explained

Sannantha brachypoda is a species in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to central Queensland in Australia. It is a shrub with egg-shaped leaves, the narrower end towards the base, and groups of 3 white flowers arranged in leaf axils.

Description

Sannantha brachypoda is a shrub that typically grows to a height of up to and has grey, scaly to fibrous bark. It leaves are egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are up to in diameter and arranged in leaf axils in groups of 3 on a peduncle long. Each flower is on a pedicel long with 2 bracts at the base, but that fall off as the flowers develop. The floral tube is long, the sepal lobes long. The petals are white, long and wide and there are usually 9 to 12 stamens. Flowering have been observed in January and March and the fruit is a hemispherical, capsule about in diameter.[1]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1999 by Anthony Bean who gave it the name Babingtonia brachypoda in the journal Austrobaileya from specimens he collected near Rolleston in 1996.[2] In 2007, Peter Gordon Wilson changed the name to Sannantha brachypoda in Australian Systematic Botany.[3] The specific epithet (brachypoda) means "short-footed", referring to the short pedicels of this species.

Distribution and habitat

Sannantha brachypoda grows in sandy gullies or near sandstone ranges, near Rolleston, Woorabinda and Theodore in central Queensland.

Conservation status

This species is listed as "vulnerable" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Bean . Anthony R. . A revision of the Babingtonia virgata (J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.) F.Muell. complex (Myrtaceae) in Australia. . Austrobaileya . 1999 . 5 . 2 . 168–169 . 4 April 2023.
  2. Web site: Babingtonia brachypoda. APNI. 24 April 2023.
  3. Web site: Sannantha brachypoda. APNI. 24 April 2023.
  4. Web site: Species profile—Sannantha brachypoda . Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science . 24 April 2023.