''Dicliptera maclearii '' is a species of plant in the family

Acanthaceae Acanthaceae is a family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are tropical herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epiphytes. Only a few species are distributed in tem ...

which 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 else ...

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

, an Australian territory in the north-eastern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

. Its specific epithet honours

John Maclear John Fiot Lee Pearse Maclear (27 June 1838 in Cape Town – 17 July 1907 in Niagara) was an admiral in the Royal Navy, known for his leadership in hydrography. He is best known for being commander of during the ''Challenger'' Expedition (1 ...

, captain of the survey vessel HMS ''Flying Fish'', which visited Christmas Island in 1886.Flora of Australia Online.

Description

''Dicliptera maclearii'' is an erect herb with small pink

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s growing to 1 m in height. Its leaves are lanceolate to ovate, acuminate or spine-tipped, 20–70 mm long and 5–30 mm wide. It closest relative is '' D. ciliata''.

Distribution and habitat

Found only on Christmas Island, it is common in places on the lower terraces of the island, including at

Flying Fish Cove Flying Fish Cove ( zh, 飛魚灣, ms, Pantai Ikan Terbang) is the capital city and main settlement of Australia's Christmas Island. Although it was originally named after British survey-ship '' Flying-Fish'', many maps simply label it "The Set ...

and North West Point.

References

Notes

Sources

* * Acanthaceae Endemic flora of Christmas Island Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 1890 Taxa named by William Hemsley (botanist) {{Acanthaceae-stub