''Spyridium erymnocladum'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large Family (biology), family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales. The family contains about 55 genera and 950 specie ...

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 South Australia. It is a low, woody shrub with linear leaves, and heads of about seven woolly-hairy flowers.

Description

''Spyridium erymnocladum'' is a woody shrub that typically grows to a height of up to , its branchlets and green parts covered with erect, straight or wavy hairs. Its leaves are linear, long and wide with the edges rolled under, and dark brown, overlapping

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...

s long at the base. The flowers are borne in heads of about seven and are covered with erect hairs, each flower on a

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 ...

about long. The floral tube is long, the

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 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s long and the petals long.

Taxonomy

''Spyridium erymnocladum'' was first formally described in 1995 by William Robert Barker in the ''

Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens The Adelaide Botanic Garden is a public garden at the north-east corner of the Adelaide city centre, in the Adelaide Park Lands. It encompasses a fenced garden on North Terrace (between Lot Fourteen, the site of the old Royal Adelaide Hospita ...

'' from specimens collected near Karkarooka between Kielpa and Rudall in 1993. 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 ...

(''erymnocladum'') means "fenced branch", referring to the overlapping stipules that completely shield the branchlets.

Distribution

This spyridium is only known from two collections made in 1986 and 1993 from two sites apart between the towns of Cleve and Darke Peak on the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Earlier called Eyre's Peninsula, it was named after e ...

of South Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17242766 erymnocladum Rosales of Australia Flora of South Australia Plants described in 1995 Taxa named by William Robert Barker