Homoranthus bebo

Homoranthus bebo is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in northern New South Wales. It is a low-lying shrub with leaves that are usually flat and with groups of up to ten yellow flowers. It is only known from the Dthinna Dthinnawan Nature Reserve near Yetman.[2][3]

Homoranthus bebo
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Homoranthus
Species:
H. bebo
Binomial name
Homoranthus bebo
Occurrence data from AVH

Description

Homoranthus bebo is a small shrub 0.05–0.2 m (2–8 in) tall and 0.5–2 m (20–80 in) wide with branches lying close to the ground. The leaves are narrowly egg-shaped, shiny, lime-green, 3–7 mm (0.1–0.3 in) long, smooth, arranged in opposite pairs along a short stem with a short protruding point at the apex. The single lemon coloured five petal flowers are held erect in the leaf axils. Flowering occurs mostly in September and October. Unopened floral buds indicate the species also flowers as late as November.[4]

Taxonomy and naming

Homoranthus bebo was first formally described in 2011 by Lachlan Copeland, Lyndley Craven and Jeremy Bruhl from a specimen collected in the Bebo State forest (now the Dthinna Dthinnawan Nature Reserve) in 2001 and the description was published in Australian Systematic Botany.[5] The specific epithet (bebo) refers to the name of the state forest where the type specimen was collected.[5]

Distribution and habitat

Currently known from a single population in Dthinna Dthinnawan Nature Reserve (formerly Bebo State Forest)~20km north-north east of Yetman New South Wales. Plants grow in deep sandy soils over sandstone.[4]

Conservation

This species has been found eligible for listing as "critically endangered" under the Australian Government EPBC Act of 1999.[6][7] This species is known from a single population of at least 300 individuals.[4]

References
  1. "Homoranthus bebo". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  2. Wilson, Peter G. "Homoranthus bebo". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  3. Hunter, John (October 2016). "Mapping of Homoranthus bebo". Technical report.
  4. Copeland, Lachlan M.; Craven, Lyn A.; Bruhl, Jeremy J. (2011). "A taxonomic review of Homoranthus (Myrtaceae: Chamelaucieae)". Australian Systematic Botany. 24 (6): 351. doi:10.1071/SB11015.
  5. "Homoranthus bebo". APNI. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  6. "NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee - Preliminary determination" (PDF). New South Wales Government Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  7. "Homoranthus bebo" (PDF). Australian Government Department of the Environment. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
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