Baeckea latifolia
In the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Baeckea
Species:
B. latifolia
Binomial name
Baeckea latifolia
Synonyms[1]
  • Baeckea gunniana var. latifolia Benth.
  • Baeckea utilis var. latifolia (Benth.) J.H.Willis

Baeckea latifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is a shrub with broadly elliptic leaves and small white flowers with six to eight stamens.

Description

Baeckea latifolia is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of 1–3 m (3 ft 3 in – 9 ft 10 in) and has arching branches. The leaves are elliptic to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 6–9 mm (0.24–0.35 in) long and 2–6 mm (0.079–0.236 in) wide on a petiole 1.2–1.5 mm (0.047–0.059 in) long. The flowers are about 6 mm (0.24 in) in diameter and are borne singly in leaf axils, each flower on a pedicel about 3 mm (0.12 in) long. The sepals are oblong, 1.2–1.4 mm (0.047–0.055 in) long and the petals are white, more or less round and 2.7–3.0 mm (0.11–0.12 in) long. There are six to eight stamens in groups of up to three, the ovary has two locules and the style is about 1.5 mm (0.059 in) long. Flowering occurs in January and February and the fruit is a cylindrical capsule 3.0–3.8 mm (0.12–0.15 in) long.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy

This baeckea was first formally described in 1867 by George Bentham who gave it the name Baeckea gunniana var. latifolia in Flora Australiensis from specimens collected by Ferdinand von Mueller in "Baw-Baw Mountains.[5][6] In 1997, Anthony Bean raised the variety to species status as Baeckea latifolia in the journal Telopea.[3][7] The specific epithet (latifolia) means "broad-leaved".[8]

Distribution and habitat

Baeckea latifolia grows in the edges of snow gum woodlands and in grassland at altitudes above 1,300 m (4,300 ft) in eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales.[2][3][4]

References

  1. 1 2 "Baeckea latifolia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 Wilson, Peter G. "Baeckea latifolia". Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Bean, Anthony (1997). "A revision of Baeckea (Myrtaceae) in eastern Australia, Malesia and south-east Asia". Telopea. 7 (3): 263–264. doi:10.7751/telopea19971018. ISSN 0312-9764.
  4. 1 2 Stajsic, Val. "Baeckea latifolia". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  5. ↑ "Baeckea gunniana var. latifolia". APNI. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  6. ↑ Bentham, George; von Mueller, Ferdinand (1867). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 3. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 79. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  7. ↑ "Baeckea latifolia". APNI. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  8. ↑ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 236. ISBN 9780958034180.
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