''Calothamnus rupestris'', commonly known as mouse ears or granite net-bush, is a plant in the myrtle

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 ...

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 the south-west of

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 ...

. It is a shrub or small tree with short, stiff, prickly leaves and pink to red flowers in spring.

Description

''Calothamnus rupestris'' is an erect, often compact, sometimes spreading shrub or small tree growing to in height. Its leaves are long, rigid, circular in cross section and taper to a prickly point. The flowers are a shade of pink to red and unlike some others in the

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 ...

, are not immersed in thick, corky bark. The 4

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 are densely hairy on their outer surface. There are 4 petals and 4 claw-like, narrow bundles of stamens. Flowering occur from July to December and is followed by fruit which are woody

capsule Capsule may refer to: Anatomy * Articular capsule (joint capsule), an envelope surrounding a synovial joint * Bowman's capsule (glomerular capsule), a sac surrounding a glomerulus in a mammalian kidney * Glisson's capsule, a fibrous layer covering ...

s, mostly long and wide. The fruiting capsules have four thickened lobes, two of which are prominent and beak-like.

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first formally described by

Johannes Schauer Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as " John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' ...

in 1843 in ''Dissertatio Phytographica de Regelia, Beaufortia et Calothamno''. 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 ...

(''rupestris'') is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

word meaning "of rocks" or "rocky".

Distribution and habitat

''Calothamnus rupestris'' is found in the

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

suburbs of Red Hill and Gosnells, the Boyagin Rock Nature Reserve and 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 ...

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 ...

and

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geo ...

biogeographic regions. It grows on granite outcrops and hillsides.

Ecology

In a study of the effect of fire on ''Calothamnus rupestris'', it was found that the species recovers from fire using seed stored in the fruits. However, it takes 7.5 years for the plants to produce the woody capsules. More frequent, high intensity fires will therefore be lethal to populations of this species. The species' habitat on rocky outcrops means populations are protected from the effects of lower intensity burns.

Conservation

''Calothamnus rupestris'' is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and en ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5023873 rupestris Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1843 Endemic flora of Western Australia