''Astartea'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of flowering plants in the myrtle family,

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All spe ...

. The genus 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 ...

southwestern 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 ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

. The genus name was inspired by

Astarte Astarte (; , ) is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess Ashtart or Athtart (Northwest Semitic), a deity closely related to Ishtar (East Semitic), who was worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. The name i ...

, the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

name for the goddess

Ishtar Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in S ...

.''Astartea'' DC.
FloraBase. Western Australian Herbarium.

Description

These plants take various forms, from dwarf shrubs barely 10 centimetres tall to small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s exceeding 5 metres in height. Some have

lignotuber A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response t ...

s and some produce

basal shoot Basal shoots, root sprouts, adventitious shoots, and suckers are words for various kinds of shoots that grow from adventitious buds on the base of a tree or shrub, or from adventitious buds on its roots. Shoots that grow from buds on the base ...

s. They are hairless and often glandular, sometimes with protruding oil glands on various parts. New stems are four-angled and sometimes winged.Rye, B. L. (2013)
A revision of the south-western Australian genus ''Astartea'' (Myrtaceae: Chamelaucieae).
''Nuytsia'' 23, 189-269. The leaves are often arranged in fascicles, with clusters of leaves along younger branches. The thick leaves are narrow, often widest toward the tips, and are smooth-edged. Most species have solitary flowers in the leaf axils. The buds are enfolded in a pair of bracteoles which usually fall away as the flower blooms. Most plants have five-parted flowers. Six-parted flowers may occur, and four parted, late-opening flowers may be produced when a plant is stressed. Layers of

petal Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usuall ...

s unfold in an opening bud, leaving the inner ones crinkled. ''A. arbuscula'' has the smallest petals, each about half a millimetre long. The petals of ''A. granitica'' are among the largest, each about 6 millimetres long. Each species generally has flowers either in shades of white to pale pink, or shades of pale to medium pink. Some individuals of ''A. arbuscula'' have deep pink flowers. Some plants have just a few

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

s per flower, while others have up to 60. This varies across species, but also within species and even among flowers on one individual. A few species also have

staminode In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen, which means that it does not produce pollen.Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; ''A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent''; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. ...

s. 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 ...

elongates as the flower matures, and the tip is a dark red colour while the base is paler. The fruit is a woody capsule. The fruit of some species is

dehiscent Dehiscence is the splitting of a mature plant structure along a built-in line of weakness to release its contents. This is common among fruits, anthers and sporangia. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part; structures that o ...

, breaking open to release the seeds, while others are indehiscent. There are one to many seeds per fruit. Most are about one millimetre long. Species native to drier habitats tend to have thick-coated seeds. There may also be chaff. Species in this genus can be variable across individuals and populations. Variation can be caused by genetics, environmental factors such as rainfall, disturbances such as fires, and microhabitat differences. Plants also vary seasonally.

Ecology

These plants are mostly found in damp areas, such as puddly rock outcroppings and the margins of waterways. Some grow in swamps and on

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

s. Most species are

insect-pollinated Entomophily or insect pollination is a form of pollination whereby pollen of plants, especially but not only of flowering plants, is distributed by insects. Flowers pollinated by insects typically advertise themselves with bright colours, some ...

. Native

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

s and jewel beetles are commonly observed on the flowers. ''Astartea'' flower in summer, when many other plants have finished their flowering periods, so the genus may provide an important source of summer food for nectar-feeding insects. Many

sap Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separ ...

-feeding insects can be found on the plants, including

mirid bugs The Miridae are a large and diverse insect family at one time known by the taxonomic synonym Capsidae. Species in the family may be referred to as capsid bugs or "mirid bugs". Common names include plant bugs, leaf bugs, and grass bugs. It is the ...

and

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. Th ...

l felt scales. ''Astartea'' often have

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external Tissue (biology), tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissu ...

s, which are probably formed by

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

taxa. Some species have seeds that may be adapted to dispersal by

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22,0 ...

Cultivation

''Astartea'' are not difficult to grow, and even have the potential to become

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

y upon escape from cultivation.

Cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s developed for

ornamental Ornamental may refer to: *Ornamental grass, a type of grass grown as a decoration *Ornamental iron, mild steel that has been formed into decorative shapes, similar to wrought iron work *Ornamental plant, a plant that is grown for its ornamental qua ...

use include ''Astartea'' 'Winter Pink'.

Diversity

In a 2013 taxonomic revision of the genus, 22 species were recognized. ;SpeciesKew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>

Formerly included

*''

Cyathostemon ambiguus ''Cyathostemon ambiguus'' is a member of the family Myrtaceae endemic to Western Australia. It is found in an area along the south coast extending from the Great Southern and into the south western Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Aust ...

'' (as ''A. ambigua'') *''

Cyathostemon heterantherus ''Cyathostemon heterantherus'' is a member of the family Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), all ...

'' (as ''A. heteranthera'') *'' Seorsus clavifolius'' (as ''A. clavifolia'') *'' Seorsus intratropicus'' (as ''A. intratropica'')

Gallery

Astartea sp. Gingalup (6725215533).jpg, ''Astartea'' sp. Gingalup Astartea sp. Bungalbin Hill (8867110468).jpg, ''Astartea'' sp. Bungalbin Astartea schaueri - Flickr - Kevin Thiele.jpg, ''Astartea schaueri'' Astartea fascicularis 7709.jpg, ''Astartea fascicularis''

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2711268 Myrtaceae genera Myrtales of Australia Rosids of Western Australia Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Astarte Endemic flora of Southwest Australia