Calothamnus pachystachyus

Calothamnus pachystachyus is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, much-branched shrub with thick bark, flat leaves and clusters of red flowers in spring. (In 2014 Craven, Edwards and Cowley proposed that the species be renamed Melaleuca pachystachya.)[2]

Calothamnus pachystachyus

Priority Four — Rare Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Calothamnus
Species:
C. pachystachyus
Binomial name
Calothamnus pachystachyus
Synonyms

Melaleuca pachystachya (Benth.) Craven & R.D.Edwards

Description

Calothamnus pachystachyus is an erect, often straggly shrub growing to a height of 1.7 metres (6 ft). The bark is thick, corky and densely hairy. Its leaves are crowded, flat, linear, 80–150 millimetres (3–6 in) long and have a single mid-vein.[3][4][5]

The flowers are red, black and brown and the hypanthium is buried in the corky bark at flowering time. There are 4 petals and the stamens are arranged in 4 claw-like bundles, the upper two broad and flat and the lower ones narrow and lacking anthers. Each stamen bundle contains 15 to 20 or more individual stamens. Flowering occurs between August and October and is followed by fruits which are woody capsules partly buried in the bark.[3][4][5]

Taxonomy and naming

Calothamnus pachystachyus was first formally described in 1867 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis.[1][3] The specific epithet (pachystachyus) is from the Ancient Greek words pakhús meaning "thick"[6] and stachys meaning "a spike".[7]

Distribution and habitat

Calothamnus pachystachyus occurs near the boundary between the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain biogeographic regions[5][8] where it grows soils derived from laterite on ridges and roadsides.[9]

Conservation

Calothamnus pachystachyus is classified as "Priority Four" by the Western Australian government Department of Parks and Wildlife[5] meaning that is rare or near threatened.[10]

References
  1. "Calothamnus pachystachyus". APNI. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  2. Craven, Lyn A.; Edwards, Robert D.; Cowley, Kirsten J. (30 June 2014). "New combinations and names in Melaleuca (Myrtaceae)". Taxon. 63 (3): 666. doi:10.12705/633.38.
  3. Bentham, George; von Mueller, Ferdinand (1867). Flora Australiensis. London: Lovell, Reeve and Co. pp. 173–174. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  4. Hawkeswood, Trevor J. (1984). "Nine new species of Calothamnus Labill. (Myrtaceae: Leptospermoideae) from Western Australia" (PDF). Nuytsia. 5 (1): 124. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  5. "Calothamnus pachystachyus". FloraBase. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  6. "παχύς". Wiktionary. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  7. Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms and Etymology (Volume IV). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. p. 2539. ISBN 0849326788. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  8. Dell, B.; Havel, J.J.; Malajczuk, N. (1988). The Jarrah Forest a complex mediterranean ecosystem. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. p. 390. ISBN 9789400931114. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  9. Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 351. ISBN 0646402439.
  10. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
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