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Sprengelia minima

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sprengelia minima
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Sprengelia
Species:
S. minima
Binomial name
Sprengelia minima

Sprengelia minima is a species of flowering plant of the family Ericaceae, and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a small shrub usually growing in alpine cushion plants and has many branches, overlapping, stem-clasping, sharply-pointed leaves, and white, tube-shaped flowers arranged singly on the ends of branches.

Description

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Sprengelia minima is a small shrub that usually grows in alpine cushion plants, sometimes with prostrate branchlets on their surface, and has many branches. The leaves overlap each other and have a stem-sheathing base, tapering to a sharply-pointed tip, 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long and 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) wide. The flowers are arranged singly, mainly on the ends of branches, with leaf-like bracts at the base. The sepals are broadly lance-shaped, 3.5–4.0 mm (0.14–0.16 in) long and the petals are white, joined at the base to form a tube about 0.5 mm (0.020 in) long with lobes 3.0–3.5 mm (0.12–0.14 in) long. Flowering occurs from December to January and the fruit is a capsule.[2][3]

Taxonomy

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Sprengelia minima was first formally described in 2013 by R.K. Crowden in the journal Telopea.[2][4] The specific epithet (minima) refers to the small size of the plant, compared to others in the genus.[2]

Habitat and distribution

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This sprengelia is moderately common in alpine areas of Tasmania, including on Mount Field and the Hartz Range, where it grows in cushion plants like Dracophyllum minimum and Domatia novae-zelandiae.[2][3]

References

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  1. ^ "Sprengelia minima". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Crowden, R.J. (2013). "Emendments to Sprengelia Sm., (Epacridoideae Ericaceae), Tasmania, Australia". Telopea. 15: 62–64. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b Jordan, Greg. "Sprengelia minima". University of Tasmania. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Sprengelia minima". APNI. Retrieved 29 June 2022.