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

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large 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 species. The Rhamnaceae ...

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 ...

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southw ...

in South Australia. It is a slender, erect shrub or small tree with oblong or narrowly egg-shaped leaves, and heads of sparsely hairy, white to cream-coloured flowers surrounded by densely hairy floral leaves.

Description

''Spyridium scabridum'' is a slender, erect shrub or small tree that typically grows to a height of up to and has densely hairy young stems. The leaves are oblong to narrowly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a petiole long with sticky, egg-shaped

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). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

s long at the base. The edges of the leaves are turned down or rolled under, the upper surface hairy at first, the lower surface felt-like and densely covered with star-shaped hairs. The heads of "flowers" are more or less

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

, in diameter and hairy, surrounded by 4 to 7 densely hairy floral leaves long and wide. Flowering occurs from September to November and the fruit is an oval

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 ...

long.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1889 by

Ralph Tate Ralph Tate (11 March 1840 – 20 September 1901) was a British-born botanist and geologist, who was later active in Australia. Early life Tate was born at Alnwick in Northumberland, the son of Thomas Turner Tate (1807–1888), a teacher of mat ...

who gave it the name ''Cryptandra scabrida'' in the '' Transactions, proceedings and report, Royal Society of South Australia''. In 2012,

Jürgen Kellermann Jürgen or Jurgen is a popular masculine given name in Germany, Estonia, Belgium and the Netherlands. It is cognate with George. Notable people named Jürgen include: A *Jürgen Ahrend (born 1930), German organ builder * Jürgen Alzen (born 19 ...

and

William Robert Barker William (Bill) Robert Barker is an Honorary Research Associate of the State Herbarium of South Australia. He is a former Chief Botanist of the State Herbarium. With Robyn Mary Barker and Laurence Haegi he had a particular interest in ''Hakea'' i ...

changed the name to ''Spyridium scabridum'' 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 Hospital ...

''. 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 ...

(''scabridum'') means "somewhat

scabrous This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

Distribution and habitat

''Spyridium scabridum'' grows in heath and open mallee scrubland on Kangaroo Island, mainly in the interior of the island.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17242134 scabridum Rosales of Australia Flora of South Australia Taxa named by Ralph Tate Plants described in 1889