''Homoranthus cernuus'' is a flowering plant in 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), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to a small area in the

Wollemi National Park The Wollemi National Park () is a protected national park and wilderness area that is located in the Central West and Hunter region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The park, the second largest national park in New South Wales, conta ...

. It is a slender shrub with smooth, linear shaped leaves and pairs of pendulous cream-coloured flowers with a pinkish base.

Description

''Homoranthus cernuus'' is an upright, smooth, slender shrub to high. The leaves are arranged in crowded, opposite pairs, either

terete Terete is a term in botany used to describe a cross section (geometry), cross section that is circular, or like a distorted circle, with a single surface wrapping around it.Lichen Vocabulary, Lichens of North America Information, Sylvia and S ...

or laterally compressed and tapering at the apex and narrowing toward the short leaf stalk. The pendant flowers are cream coloured with a pink base on an arching

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long and mostly in pairs. Flowers have a single

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

about long between the two pedicels. The small bracts are thin, dry and cover the flower bud and remain until the flower petals are fully opened. The cylindrical floral tube is long, has 5 prominent ribs and the styles projected well below the petals and twice the length of the floral tube. Flowers and fruits sporadically throughout the year but primarily in spring and summer. This species is closely related to ''H. darwinoides'' but has longer leaves and larger flowers.

Taxonomy

''Homoranthus cernuus'' was first formally described in 1889 by

Richard Thomas Baker Richard Thomas Baker (1 December 1854 – 14 July 1941) was an Australian economic Botany, botanist, museum curator and educator. Early life Baker was born in Woolwich, England, son of Richard Thomas Baker, a blacksmith, and his wife Sarah, née ...

who gave it the name ''Rylstonea cernua'' from a specimen collected from Mount Coricudgy. The description was published in ''

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 ...

''. In 1991

Lyndley Craven Lyndley Alan Craven (3 September 1945 – 11 July 2014) was a botanist who became the Principal Research Scientist of the Australian National Herbarium. Lyndley ("Lyn") Craven worked for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organ ...

and S.R.Jones changed the name to ''Homoranthus cernuus'' and the name change was published in ''

Australian Systematic Botany ''Australian Systematic Botany'' is an international peer-reviewed scientific journal published by CSIRO Publishing. It is devoted to publishing original research, and sometimes review articles, on topics related to systematic botany, such as b ...

''.

Distribution and habitat

This species has a restricted distribution and is endemic to the north-western section of Wollemi National Park in central

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. It occurs on

Narrabeen Narrabeen is a beachside suburb of northern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres northeast of the business district, shared by the local government area of Northern Beaches Council and the Northern Beaches region. The bay wa ...

sandstone, shallow sandy soils in layered woodland or heath, usually on steep rocky terrain in dry open forests.

Conservation status

Uncommon and restricted in distribution, but well reserved in Wollemi National Park. Listed as a rare species by Briggs and Leigh (1996) with a ROTAP conservation 2RCa.

References

External links

The Australasian Virtual Herbarium – Occurrence data for ''Homoranthus cernuus''
{{Taxonbar, from= Q15367744 cernuus Flora of New South Wales Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1889