Sprengelia propinqua
In The Tasmanian Arboretum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Sprengelia
Species:
S. propinqua
Binomial name
Sprengelia propinqua
Synonyms[1]
  • Sprengelia incarnata f. propinqua (A.Cunn. ex DC.) Siebert & Voss
  • Sprengelia macrantha Hook.f.
  • Sprengelia propinqua var. demissa F.Muell.

Sprengelia propinqua is a species of flowering plant of the family Ericaceae, and is endemic to Tasmania. It is an erect, robust shrub with overlapping, stem-clasping, egg-shaped leaves, and white flowers crowded in upper leaf axils.

Description

Sprengelia propinqua is a shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in). Its leaves overlap each other, have a stem-clasping base, and are egg-shaped, 6–20 mm (0.24–0.79 in) long and 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) wide, crowded near the ends of branches. The flowers are crowded near the ends of branches, with egg-shaped bracts 3.5–5.0 mm (0.14–0.20 in) long and 3.0–4.5 mm (0.12–0.18 in) wide at the base. The sepals are narrowly lance-shaped, 7.6–8.4 mm (0.30–0.33 in) long and the petals are white, joined at the base to form a tube 1.4–2.0 mm (0.055–0.079 in) long with narrowly lance-shaped lobes 6.2–7.9 mm (0.24–0.31 in) long. Flowering occurs from November to January.[2][3]

Taxonomy

Sprengelia propinqua was first formally described in 1839 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in his Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham of plants he collected near Hobart.[4][5] The specific epithet (propinqua) means "resembling".[6]

Habitat and distribution

This sprengelia grows in heath and sedge communities in high rainfall areas from sea level to altitudes above 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Tasmania, including on the Southern and Central Highlands. It often co-exists with Sprengelia incarnata, and sometimes hybridises with it.[2][3]

References

  1. 1 2 "Sprengelia propinqua". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  2. 1 2 Crowden, R.J. (2013). "Emendments to Sprengelia Sm., (Epacridoideae Ericaceae), Tasmania, Australia". Telopea. 15: 62. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  3. 1 2 Jordan, Greg. "Sprengelia propinqua". University of Tasmania. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  4. ↑ "Sprengelia propinqua". APNI. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  5. ↑ de Candolle, Augustus P. (1839). Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis. Vol. 7. Paris. p. 768. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  6. ↑ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 284. ISBN 9780958034180.
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