Biology:Philotheca basistyla

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Short description: Species of plant

White-flowered philotheca
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Philotheca
Species:
P. basistyla
Binomial name
Philotheca basistyla
Mollemans[1]

Philotheca basistyla, commonly known as the white-flowered philotheca,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small shrub with narrow club-shaped leaves and white flowers arranged singly on the ends of branchlets.

Description

Philotheca basistyla is a shrub that grows to a height of 1 m (3 ft 3 in) with corky branchlets. The leaves are narrow club-shaped, about 10 mm (0.39 in) long with scattered warty glands. The flowers are borne singly on the ends of the branchlets, each flower on a narrow top-shaped pedicel about 1 mm (0.039 in) long. There are five broadly egg-shaped sepals about 1 mm (0.039 in) long and five elliptical white petals about 6 mm (0.24 in) long. The ten stamens are joined for two-thirds of their length to form a cylindrical tube. Flowering occurs from August to October.[3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

Philotheca basistyla was first formally described in 1993 by Frans Hendricus Mollemans in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected near Trayning.[4][5]

Distribution and habitat

White-flowered philotheca grows in dense scrub north-west of Southern Cross in the south-west of Western Australia.[3]

Conservation status

This philotheca is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and an interim recovery plan has been prepared.[2][6] It is also listed as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia). The main threats to the species include road and firebreak maintenance activities, pipeline management, weed invasion and grazing by rabbits.[6]

References

  1. "Philotheca basistyla". Australian Plant Census. https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/134426. Retrieved 30 July 2020. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 "SPRAT Profile - Philotheca basistyla - White-flowered philotheca". Australian Government Department of the Environment. http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=64941. Retrieved 30 July 2020. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 Wilson, Paul G.; Wilson, Annette J.G. (ed.) (2013). Flora of Australia (Volume 26). Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study. p. 384. https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Philotheca%20basistyla. Retrieved 30 July 2020. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Mollemans, F.H. (1993). "Drummondita wilsonii, Philotheca langei and P. basistyla (Rutaceae), new species from south-west Western Australia". Nuytsia 9 (1): 101–102. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/224512#page/107/mode/1up. Retrieved 30 July 2020. 
  5. "Philotheca basistyla". APNI. https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/557383. Retrieved 30 July 2020. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 Bettink, Karen; Luu, Robyn; Brunt, Kate; Brown, Andrew. "White-flowered philotheca (Philotheca basistyla) Interim Recovery Plan 2004–2009". Government of Western Australia Department of Conservation and Land Management. https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/3addac08-3f67-4478-bdb5-092b25f7b0dc/files/p-basistyla.pdf. Retrieved 30 July 2020. 

Wikidata ☰ Q18075433 entry