Spyridium glaucum explained

Spyridium glaucum is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of south-western Western Australia. It is an erect or spreading shrub with egg-shaped leaves, and clusters of 3 to 6 rusty-hairy flowers.

Description

Spyridium glaucum is an erect or spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of, its young stems densely hairy, the hairs pressed against the surface. Its leaves are usually egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, sometimes oblong to elliptic, long and wide on a petiole long, and with the edges turned down or rolled under. The flowers are borne in heads of 3 to 6, the heads wide and densely covered with rust-coloured hairs. The floral tube is long and the sepals long. Flowering occurs from September to November.[1]

Taxonomy

Spyridium glaucum was first formally described in 1995 by Barbara Lynette Rye in the Nuytsia from specimens collected by Eleanor Marion Bennett near Ravensthorpe in 1979.[2] The specific epithet (glaucum) means "bluish-green or grey", referring to the colour of the leaves.

Distribution

This spyridium is only known from hills north-east of Ravensthorpe in the Esperance Plains bioregion of south-western Western Australia.

Notes and References

  1. Rye . Barbara L. . New and priority taxa in the genera Spyridium and Trymalium (Rhamnaceae) of Western Australia. . Nuytsia . 1995 . 10 . 1 . 120–121 . 20 July 2022.
  2. Web site: Spyridium glaucum . Australian Plant Name Index . 20 July 2022.