''Thryptomene biseriata'' is a species of 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 speci ...

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 elsew ...

to arid areas of southern central Australia. It is an erect, multi-stemmed shrub with more or less round to club-shaped leaves and pink flowers with five petals and five

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

Description

''Thryptomene biseriata'' is an erect, multi-stemmed shrub that typically grows to a height of . Its leaves are more or less round to club-shaped, long and

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 ...

with a short point on the tip. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils, scattered along the branchlets, 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 ...

long. The five

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 b ...

s are pink, egg-shaped and long with a distinct claw on the end. The petals are white or pink, slightly longer than the sepals and there are five stamens opposite the sepals. Flowering occurs in March or from October to December.

Taxonomy

''Thryptomene biseriata'' was first formally described in 1986 by John Green in the ''Flora of South Australia'' from specimens collected by

Alex George Alexander or Alex George may refer to: *Alex George (botanist) (born 1939), Australian botanist * Alexander L. George (1920–2006), American political scientist * Alexander George (philosopher), American philosopher *Alex George (motorcyclist), Sc ...

, north of

Cundeelee Cundeelee is a small Aboriginal community in Western Australia located east of Perth and east of Kalgoorlie in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. At the 2006 census, Cundeelee had a population of 102. A ration depot had ...

in 1963. 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 ...

(''biseriata'') means "arranged in two rows", referring to the sepals and petals.

Distribution and habitat

This thryptomene grows on red sand dunes in the north-west of South Australia and on the Nullarbor Plain and the

Great Victoria Desert The Great Victoria Desert is a sparsely populated desert ecoregion and interim Australian bioregion in Western Australia and South Australia. History In 1875, British-born Australian explorer Ernest Giles became the first European to cross th ...

and Murchison

biogeographic regions A biogeographic realm or ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms. They are subdivided into bioregions, which are further subdivided into ecoregions. De ...

of Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Thryptomene biseriata'' 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 e ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15388002 biseriata Endemic flora of Western Australia Rosids of Western Australia Flora of South Australia Plants described in 1986