Spyridium villosum is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small shrub with shaggy-hairy branchlets, linear to oblong leaves and dense heads of hairy flowers with broad brown bracts at the base.

Spyridium villosum

Priority Two — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rhamnaceae
Genus: Spyridium
Species:
S. villosum
Binomial name
Spyridium villosum
Synonyms[1]

Cryptandra villosua Turcz.

Description

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Spyridium villosum is a low-growing shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.10–40 cm (0.039–15.748 in), its branches covered with shaggy grey or rust-coloured hairs. The leaves are linear to oblong, 12–20 mm (0.47–0.79 in) long with a downcurved point on the tip, and hairy, especially on the lower surface. The flowers heads are densely crowded in cymes with broad, brown bracts at the base and one or two floral leaves. The sepal tube is about 1.6 mm (0.063 in) long and woolly-hairy.[2][3]

Taxonomy

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This species was first formally described in 1858 by Nikolai Turczaninow who gave it the name Cryptandra villosa in the Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou.[4][5] In 1863, George Bentham changed the name to Spyridium villosum in Flora Australiensis.[6] The specific epithet (villosum) means "with long, soft hairs".[7]

Distribution and habitat

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Spyridium villosum grows in sand over sandstone, in the eastern part of the Stirling Range, with one collection from near Ongerup.[3][8]

Conservation status

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Spyridium spadiceum is listed as "Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions,[3] meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Spyridium villosum". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  2. ^ Bentham, George; von Mueller, Ferdinand (1863). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 1. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 432. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Spyridium villosum". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  4. ^ "Cryptandra villosa". APNI. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  5. ^ Turczaninow, Nikolai (1858). "Animadversiones in secundam partem herbarii Turczaninow, nunc Universitatis Caesareae Charkowiensis". Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou. 31 (1): 458. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  6. ^ "Spyridium villosum". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  7. ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 336. ISBN 9780958034180.
  8. ^ Rye, Barbara L. (1996). "A synopsis of the genera Pomaderris, Siegfriedia, Spyridium and Trymalium (Rhamnaceae) in Western Australia". Nuytsia. 11 (1): 124. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 29 November 2022.