Hypocalymma speciosum explained

Hypocalymma speciosum is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the Stirling Range in southern Western Australia. It is a bushy shrub with heart-shaped, egg-shaped or circular leaves and deep pink-purple flowers with 25 to 50 stamens in several rows.

Description

Hypocalymma speciosum is a bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of and often has many stems. Its young stems are 4-angled and glabrous. The leaves are more or less sessile, heart-shaped, egg-shaped or circular, long and wide. The flowers are mostly wide, arranged singly or in groups of up to four, and are more or less sessile. The sepals are broadly elliptic, long and white with a red tinge. The petals are deep pink-purple, long, and there are 25 to 50 stamens in two rows forming a ring, the longest filaments long. Flowering occurs from September to December and the fruit is about long.[1] [2]

Taxonomy

Hypocalymma speciosum was first formally described in 1852 by Nikolai Turczaninow in Bulletin de la Classe Physico-Mathématique de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg from specimens collected by James Drummond.[3] [4] The specific epithet (speciosum) means 'showy'.[5]

Distribution and habitat

This species of Hypocalymma grows on rocky slopes in the central and western parts of the Stirling Range, in the Esperance Plains bioregion of southern Western Australia.

Notes and References

  1. Rye . Barbara L. . Wilson . Peter G. . Keighery . Gregory J. . A revision of the species of Hypocalymma (Myrtaceae: Chamelaucieae) with smooth or colliculate seeds. . Nuytsia . 2013 . 23 . 304–305 . 28 October 2024.
  2. Strid . P. Arne K. . Keighery . Greg J. . A taxonomic review of the genus Hypocalymma (Myrtaceae). . Nordic Journal of Botany . 2003 . 22 . 5 . 568–569.
  3. Web site: Hypocalymma speciosum . Australian Plant Name Index . 28 October 2024.
  4. Turczaninow . Nikolai . Myrtaceae Xerocarpicae, in Nova Hollandia a cl. Drumond . Bulletin de la Classe Physico-Mathématique de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg . 1852 . 10 . 332–333. 14 October 2024.
  5. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 310 . 3rd.