''Cryptandra micrantha'' 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

southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

of Western Australia. It is a prostrate or upright shrub with spiny branchlets, narrowly oblong to elliptic leaves and dense clusters of white or cream-coloured, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

''Cryptandra micrantha'' is a rounded, prostrate or erect, spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of and has spiny branchlets. The leaves are narrowly oblong to elliptic, long and wide, on a

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 ...

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 edges of the leaves are turned down or rolled under, sometimes concealing the lower surface. The flowers are borne in dense, white or cream-coloured clusters wide, surrounded by 4 to 6 egg-shaped bracts. The floral tube is long and glabrous, 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 long and glabrous, and the petals are long. Flowering occurs from April to August.

Taxonomy and naming

''Cryptandra micrantha'' was first formally described in 2007 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 ...

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 ...

'' from specimens collected near Mount Gibson in 1994. 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 ...

(''micrantha '') means "small flower".

Distribution

This cryptandra grows in stony places, often on hills and occurs between

Canna Canna may refer to: Places * Canna, Western Australia, a locality in the Shire of Morawa, Australia * Canna, Calabria, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cosenza, Italy * Cannae, a ''frazione'' in the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, Apulia, Ita ...

Wongan Hills Wongan Hills is a range of low flat-topped hills in the Avon Wheatbelt bioregion of Western Australia. It is located at , in the Shire of Wongan–Ballidu. History The range was first recorded in 1836 by Surveyor General of Western Australia Joh ...

Boorabbin Boorabbin was a location on the narrow gauge Eastern Goldfields Railway in Western Australia. It was half way between Southern Cross, Western Australia, Southern Cross and Coolgardie, Western Australia, Coolgardie. It was the location of a wate ...

and

Mount Magnet Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish ...

in the

Avon Wheatbelt The Avon Wheatbelt is a bioregion in Western Australia. It has an area of . It is considered part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion. Geography The Avon Wheatbelt bioregion is mostly a gently undulating landscape with low reli ...

, Coolgardie,

Jarrah Forest Jarrah forest is tall open forest in which the dominant overstory tree is '' Eucalyptus marginata'' (jarrah). The ecosystem occurs only in the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is ...

, Mallee, Murchison and Yalgoo bioregions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Cryptandra micrantha'' is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

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=Q15537738 micrantha Rosales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 2007 Taxa named by Barbara Lynette Rye