Westringia eremicola explained

Westringia eremicola, commonly known as slender westringia or slender western rosemary, is a flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a small shrub, with narrow leaves and pink, mauve to white flowers.

Description

Westringia eremicola is a slender shrub growing to high. The leaves are on a petiole long, usually in whorls of three, narrow-elliptic to linear, mostly long, wide. The margins of the leaves are smooth, curved under, and both surfaces have more or less flattened, simple, upright hairs. The flowers are borne in leaf axils, with densely hairy sepals forming a tube long with triangular lobes long. The bracteoles are long and the petals are mauve, purple or occasionally white, long and have orange to brown spots in the throat. Flowering may occur at anytime throughout the year and the fruit is a dark brown, woody capsule up to long.[1] [2] [3] [4]

Taxonomy and naming

Westringia eremicola was first formally described in 1834 by George Bentham from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham and the description was published in Bentham's book Labiatarum Genera et Species.[5] [6] The specific epithet (eremicola) means "desert dweller".

Distribution and habitat

Slender westringia grows in mallee on sandy soils in Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.[1] Associated species include Calytrix tetragona, as well as Acacia, Daviesia, Leptospermum, Leucopogon and Triodia species.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Westringia eremicola A.Cunn. ex Benth. . 1 October 2013 . PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online . Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia.
  2. Book: Fairley . Alan . Moore . Philip . Native Plants of the Sydney District . 1989 . Kangaroo Press . Sydney . 0864172613 . 296.
  3. Web site: Conn . Barry J. . Westringia eremicola . Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria . 18 October 2024.
  4. Web site: Westringia eremicola . Seeds of South Australia . 18 October 2024.
  5. Web site: Westringia eremicola . 1 October 2013 . Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government, Canberra.
  6. Book: Bentham . George . Labiatarum genera et species . 1834 . James Ridgway . London . 459–460 . 18 October 2024.
  7. Web site: Westringia eremicola. 2 October 2013 . Electronic Flora of South Australia Fact Sheet . State Herbarium of South Australia .