''Cryptandra propinqua'' is a species of 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 Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to south-eastern continental Australia. It is a shrub with many branches, more or less linear leaves, and spike-like clusters of white, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

''Cryptandra propinqua'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of and has many side branchlets long but that are not spiny. The leaves are linear, flat or round in cross-section, long, wide on a petiole long, and often clustered. There are narrowly triangular

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 and fused at the base of the petioles. The edges of the leaves are rolled under, sometimes obscuring the lower, densely hairy, white surface, the upper surface

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 ...

. The flowers are borne singly in upper leaf axils forming a spike-like cluster with about 15 egg-shaped bracts at the base of each flower. The floral tube is white, bell-shaped, long, the lobes erect, long. The petals are white, protrude slightly beyond the end of the floral tube, and are hooded. Flowering mainly occurs from June to September.

Taxonomy and naming

''Cryptandra propinqua'' was first formally described in 1837 by

Eduard Fenzl Eduard Fenzl (1808, in Krummnußbaum – 1879, in Vienna) was an Austrian botanist. Life and contributions An obituary notes " was Professor of Botany and Director of the Imperial Botanical Cabinet, a member of the Vienna Academy of Sciences ...

in ''

Enumeratio plantarum quas in Novae Hollandiae ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus Liber Baro de Hügel ''Enumeratio plantarum quas in Novae Hollandiæ ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus Liber Baro de Hügel'' is a description of the plants collected at the Swan River colony and King George Sound in ...

'' from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham. 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 ...

(''propinqua'') means "near" or "related to". In 2007,

Jürgen Kellermann Jürgen or Jurgen is a popular masculine given name in Germany, Estonia, Belgium and the Netherlands. It is cognate with George. Notable people named Jürgen include: A *Jürgen Ahrend (born 1930), German organ builder * Jürgen Alzen (born 19 ...

and

Frank Udovicic Frank Udovicic is an Australian botanist who specialises in molecular systematics and phytogeography. Career Udovicic completed his Bachelor of Science (Honours) at The University of Melbourne in 1990. In 1995 he completed his PhD at The Univer ...

described two subspecies of ''C. propinqua'' in the ''

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales The Linnean Society of New South Wales promotes ''the Cultivation and Study of the Science of Natural History in all its Branches'' and was founded in Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) in 1874 and incorporated in 1884. History The Society succ ...

'', and the names are accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

: * ''Cryptandra propinqua'' subsp. ''maranoa'' Kellermann & Udovicic has leaves with the lower surface usually visible, mostly

stipules, bracts not covering the sepals and occurs in New South Wales and Queensland. * ''Cryptandra propinqua'' A.Cunn. ex Fenzl subsp. ''propinqua'' has leaves with the lower surface obscured, stipules hairy, at least on the midrib, and fragile bracts partly covering the sepals and is restricted to the Maranoa and nearby districts of Queensland.

Distribution and habitat

This cryptandra grows in sandy soil over sandstone, and is widespread between

Springsure Springsure is a town and a locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. It is south of Emerald on the Gregory Highway. It is the southern terminus of the Gregory Highway and the northern terminus of the Dawson Highway. It is ...

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria * Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewo ...

and

Morven Morven, or Mhoirbheinn, is a given name and may also refer to: Places Australia * Morven, Queensland, a town and locality in the Shire of Murweh * Morven, New South Wales * Electoral district of Morven, Tasmania Canada * Morven, community in Loyal ...

in Queensland, mainly on the ranges and inland in New South Wales, and in southern South Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15538203, from2=Q66103532, from3=Q100450942 propinqua Rosales of Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1837 Taxa named by Eduard Fenzl