''Cryptandra intratropica'' 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 the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region of Western Australia. It is a slender, erect or spreading shrub with wedge-shaped to oblong or egg-shaped leaves and clusters of yellow to cream-coloured, tube-shaped flowers arranged in head-like clusters.

Description

''Cryptandra intratropica'' is a slender, erect or spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of , its branchlets not spiny, its young stems covered with rust-coloured, shaggy hairs. The leaves are wedge-shaped to oblong or egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long with the edges turned down. The upper surface of the leaves is woolly-hairy, the lower surface shaggy-hairy, and there brown

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 at the base of each leaf. The flowers are yellow or cream-coloured and borne in head-like clusters in leaf axils, each flower on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

much shorter than 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 and with 5 or more overlapping brown bracts at the base. The

s are about long, increasing to long in the fruit, and are woolly-hairy, joined to form a top-shaped tube with pale-coloured lobes shorter than the sepal tube. Flowering occurs from March to June.

Taxonomy and naming

''Cryptandra intratropica'' was first formally described in 1918 by

William Vincent Fitzgerald William Vincent Fitzgerald, (21 July 1867 – 6 August 1929) was an Australian botanist. He described five genera and about 210 species of plants from Western Australia, including 33 ''Acacia'' and several ''Eucalyptus'' species. He also collec ...

in the '' Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Western Australia'' from specimens he collected "1,000ft. or more above the base of Mt. Broome". 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 ...

(''intratropica '') means "within the

Tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred ...

Distribution and habitat

This cryptandra grows in a variety of sandstone habitats, mostly in near-coastal areas, mainly between the

Bonaparte Archipelago The Bonaparte Archipelago is a group of islands off the coast of Western Australia in the Kimberley region, within the Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley. The closest inhabited place is Kalumburu located about to the east of the island group. Th ...

and

Talbot Bay Talbot was an automobile marque introduced in 1902 by English-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talb ...

in the

Central Kimberley The Central Kimberley, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the central Kimberley region of Western Australia, comprising an area of .

Northern Kimberley The Northern Kimberley, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the northern Kimberley region of Western Australia,Victoria Bonaparte The Victoria Bonaparte, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory and Western Australia,

bioregions of inland Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Cryptandra intratropica'' 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=Q15538919 intratropica Rosales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1918 Taxa named by William Vincent Fitzgerald