''Cryptandra distigma'' is a flowering plant in the family

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales. The family contains about 55 genera and 950 species. The Rhamnaceae ...

and is endemic to inland Western Australia. It is a shrub with oblong or narrowly egg-shaped leaves and clusters of white to cream-coloured, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

''Cryptandra distigma'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of , its young stems densely covered with fine, matted hairs. The leaves are oblong to narrowly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide, on a petiole long with

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

s long at the base. The upper surface of the leaves is

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin '' glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part o ...

and the edges are rolled under, concealing the lower surface. The flowers are white to cream-coloured and borne in clusters of 3 to 15, wide. The floral tube is long and joined at the base for . The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s are long and hairy, and the

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

is long. Flowering mainly occurs from June to September.

Taxonomy and naming

''Cryptandra distigma'' was first formally described in 1995 by

Barbara Lynette Rye Barbara Lynette Rye is an Australian botanist born in 1952. Barbara Rye has been associated with the Western Australian Herbarium, where her work as a taxonomist has been the source of many new descriptions of plants. The number of taxa record ...

and the description was published in the journal ''

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''distigma '') means "double stigma", referring to the two lobes of the stigma.

Distribution and habitat

This cryptandra grows in sand on sandplains and dunes from Kirgell Rocks Station to

Widgiemooltha Widgiemooltha is an abandoned town in Western Australia east of Perth between Kambalda and Norseman in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. It is found on the southern shoreline of Lake Lefroy. The location of the original t ...

and from

Wallaroo Wallaroo is a common name for several species of moderately large macropods, intermediate in size between the kangaroos and the wallabies. The word "wallaroo" is from the Dharug ''walaru'', and not a portmanteau of the words "kangaroo" and "wa ...

to the

Queen Victoria Spring Nature Reserve Queen Victoria Spring Nature Reserve is a protected area managed by the Department of Parks and Wildlife and is located approximately east of Kalgoorlie in the Great Victoria Desert in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. Th ...

in the Coolgardie,

Esperance Plains Esperance Plains, also known as Eyre Botanical District, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia on the south coast between the Avon Wheatbelt and Hampton bioregions, and bordered to the north by the Mallee region. It is ...

Great Victoria Desert The Great Victoria Desert is a sparsely populated desert ecoregion and interim Australian bioregion in Western Australia and South Australia. History In 1875, British-born Australian explorer Ernest Giles became the first European to cross th ...

, Mallee and Murchison bioregions of Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Cryptandra distigma'' is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Western Australian government department responsible for managing lands and waters described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'', the ''Rottnest Island ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15537513 distigma Rosales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1995 Taxa named by Barbara Lynette Rye