Philotheca scabra

Philotheca scabra is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It is a small shrub with variably shaped leaves, depending on subspecies, and single white to pink flowers arranged on the ends of branchlets.

Philotheca scabra
Subspecies latifolia in the ANBG
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Philotheca
Species:
P. scabra
Binomial name
Philotheca scabra
Synonyms[1]
  • Eriostemon scaber Paxton
  • Eriostemon scaber Gérard nom. illeg.
  • Eriostemon scaber Paxton isonym
  • Eriostemon scaber A.DC. nom. illeg.
  • Eriostemon scabrum Paxton orth. var.
  • Eriostemon scabrum Gérard orth. var.
  • Eriostemon scabrum A.DC. orth. var.

Description

Philotheca scabra is a shrub that grows to a height of 0.6 m (2 ft 0 in) with more or less bristly stems. The leaves are sessile, 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) long and either more or less cylindrical and folded lengthwise or narrow oblong-elliptic and concave on the lower side. The flowers are borne singly on the ends of branchlets on a peduncle 0.5–2 mm (0.020–0.079 in) long and a pedicel 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) long with two pairs of tiny bracteoles at the base. There are five fleshy, semicircular sepals about 1 mm (0.039 in) long, five elliptical white to pink petals 7–8 mm (0.28–0.31 in) long and ten stamens. Flowering occurs in spring and the fruit is about 7 mm (0.28 in) long with a beak about 3 mm (0.12 in) long.[2][3]

Taxonomy

This philotheca was first formally described in 1844 by Joseph Paxton who gave it the name Eriostemon scaber and published the description in Paxton's Magazine of Botany from a specimen "in the nursery of Messrs. Henderson, of Pine Apple Place, who received it from the gardens of Baron Hugel, at Vienna, about twelve months back".[4][5] In 1970, Paul G. Wilson described two subspecies of Eriostemon scaber in the journal Nuytsia:[6]

  • Eriostemon scaber subsp. latifolia (Paul G.Wilson) Paul G.Wilson that has glandular-warty stems and leaves about 12 mm (0.47 in) long and 3 mm (0.12 in) wide;
  • Eriostemon scaber (Paul G.Wilson) Paul G.Wilson subsp. scaber that has smooth stems and more or less cylindrical leaves.[7]

In 1998, Wilson changed the species name to Philotheca scabra and the subspecies to P. scabra subsp. latifolia and P. scabra subsp. scabra respectively, in a later edition of the same journal:[7] The names of the subspecies are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

  • Philotheca scabra subsp. latifolia (Paul G.Wilson) Paul G.Wilson;[8]
  • Philotheca scabra (Paul G.Wilson) Paul G.Wilson subsp. scabra.[9]

Distribution and habitat

Philotheca scabra grows in heath and forest on the coast and nearby ranges of New South Wales between Sydney and the Nerriga and Nowra districts.[2][3] Subspecies scaber occurs in the northern part of the species' distribution and subsp. latifolius near Nerriga and Nowra.[7]

References
  1. "Philotheca scabra". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  2. Wilson, Paul G.; Wilson, Annette J.G. (ed.) (2013). Flora of Australia (Volume 26). Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study. p. 395. Retrieved 13 August 2020.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  3. Weston, Peter H.; Harden, Gwen J. "Philotheca scabra". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  4. "Eriostemon scaber". APNI. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  5. Paxton, Joseph (1844). "Floricultural Notices". Paxton's Journal of Botany. 11: 190. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  6. Wilson, Paul G. (1970). "A taxonomic revision of the genera Crowea, Eriostemon and Phebalium (Rutaceae)". Nuytsia. 1 (1): 44. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  7. Wilson, Paul G. (1998). "A Taxonomic Review of the genera Eriostemon and Philotheca". Nuytsia. 12 (2): 259–260. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  8. "Philotheca scabra subsp. latifolia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  9. "Philotheca scabra subsp. scabra". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
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