Cryptandra exilis

Cryptandra exilis, commonly known as slender pearlflower,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a small, straggly, low-growing shrub with linear leaves and tube-shaped white or cream-coloured flowers arranged in small groups on the ends of branches.

Cryptandra exilis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rhamnaceae
Genus: Cryptandra
Species:
C. exilis
Binomial name
Cryptandra exilis
D.I.Morris[1]

Description

Cryptandra exilis is a shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 40 cm (16 in) and has slender, low-lying or straggly stems. Its leaves are arranged in small bundles on short side-branches and are linear with the edges rolled under and 2–7 mm (0.079–0.276 in) long. The flowers are usually arranged in groups of 2 to 6 on the ends of the main branches with dark brown bracts at the base, half as long as the sepal tube. The sepals are white or cream-coloured and joined at the base, forming a densely hairy tube more than 2 mm (0.079 in) long with lobes about 1.5 mm (0.059 in) long. The petals form a hood over the stamens and the style is about 2 mm (0.079 in) long. Flowering occurs from September to May, and the fruit is a capsule about 2.5 mm (0.098 in) long.[2][3]

Taxonomy

Cryptandra exilis was first formally described in 1991 by Dennis Ivor Morris in Aspects of Tasmanian Botany - a tribute to Winifred Curtis from specimens collected by Tony Moscal in 1980.[4] The specific epithet (exilis) means "small" or "weak".[5]

Distribution and habitat

Slender pearlflower grows in heathy or shrubby forest from Cape Barren Island to the Tasman Peninsula on the east coast of Tasmania.[2][3]

References
  1. "Cryptandra exilis". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  2. "Cryptandra exilis - slender pearlflower". Tasmanian Government Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  3. Jordan, Greg. "Cryptandra exilis". University of Tasmania. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  4. "Cryptandra exilis". APNI. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  5. William T. Stearn (1992). Botanical Latin. History, grammar, syntax, terminology and vocabulary (4th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. p. 4097.
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