Philotheca thryptomenoides | |
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Near Beacon | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Sapindales |
Family: | Rutaceae |
Genus: | Philotheca |
Species: | P. thryptomenoides
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Binomial name | |
Philotheca thryptomenoides | |
Synonyms[1] | |
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Philotheca thryptomenoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small undershrub with oval to club-shaped leaves and white flowers with a broad, reddish-brown stripe, arranged singly on the ends of branchlets.
Philotheca thryptomenoides is an undershrub that typically grows to a height of about 50 cm (20 in) and has smooth, dark-coloured to black branchlets. The leaves are oval to club-shaped, 1.5–3 mm (0.059–0.118 in) long and flat on the upper surface. The flowers are arranged singly on the ends of branchlets and are sessile or on a pedicel up to 2 mm (0.079 in) long. The five sepals are egg-shaped, 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) long, and the five petals are narrowly egg-shaped, white with a central reddish-brown stripe and about 6 mm (0.24 in) long. The ten stamens are free from each other and densely hairy. Flowering occurs from July to September and the fruit is 1.5–2 mm (0.059–0.079 in) long.[2][3][4]
This species was first described in 1920 by Spencer Le Marchant Moore who gave it the name Erisotemon thryptomenoides in the Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany.[5][6] In 1998, Paul Wilson changed the name to Philotheca thryptomenoides in the journal Nuytsia.[7][8]
This philotheca grows in shrubland on heavy soil in the Merredin-Wubin area in the south-west of Western Australia.[3]
Philotheca thryptomenoides is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.[2]