''Homoranthus flavescens'' is a plant 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 ...
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 northern
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 is a low, spreading, flat-topped shrub with cylinder-shaped or flattened leaves. Single yellow to reddish flowers appear in leaf
axil
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...
s in late spring and summer, forming clusters near the end of the branchlets.
Description
''Homoranthus flavescens'' grow to 0.5 metres high and 1 metre in width and have leaves are 6 to 10 mm long and up to 1.5 mm in width. Yellow flowers appear in late spring and summer.
Fruits September-December.
Taxonomy and naming
''Homoranthus flavescens'' was first formally described in 1843 by
Johannes Conrad Schauer
Johannes Conrad Schauer (16 February 1813 – 24 October 1848) was a botanist interested in spermatophytes. He was born in Frankfurt am Main and attended the gymnasium of Mainz from 1825 to 1837. For the next three years he worked at the Hofgar ...
from an unpublished description by
Allan Cunningham. The description was published in ''Monographia Myrtacearum Xerocarpicarum''.
The
specific epithet
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
(''flavescens'') is the
incipient form
of the
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
word ''flavus'' meaning "yellow" or "golden yellow".
Distribution and habitat
Grows from
Yetman in far northern New South Wales to
Dubbo
Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021.
The city is located at the intersection of the ...
and
Merriwa districts. Grows most commonly on sandstone in shrubby woodland or heath.
Conservation status
Widespread, often locally common and well reserved.
References
External links
The Australasian Virtual Herbarium – Occurrence data for ''Homoranthus flavescens''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q13920115
flavescens
Flora of New South Wales
Myrtales of Australia
Plants described in 1843