Biology:Astroloma humifusum
| Astroloma humifusum | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Astroloma |
| Species: | A. humifusum
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| Binomial name | |
| Astroloma humifusum (Cav.) R.Br.
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| Synonyms | |
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Ventenatia humifusa Cav. | |
Astroloma humifusum, commonly known as the native cranberry or cranberry heath, is a small prostrate shrub or groundcover in the heath family Ericaceae. The species is endemic to south-eastern Australia .[1]
Description
Astroloma humifusum grows as a spreading mat-like shrub up to 50 cm (20 in) high and 0.5 to 1.5 m (20 in to 5 ft) across.[2] Its hairy stems bear blue-green pine-like acute leaves 0.5-1.2 cm (0.2-0.5 in) long. The tubular flowers are up to 2 cm (0.8 in) long and appear from February to June, and are all red, unlike the red and green flowers of A. pinifolium. Flowers are followed by green globular berries around 0.4-0.6 cm (0.2 in) in diameter, which become reddish as they ripen.[3]
Taxonomy
Astroloma humifusum was initially described as Ventenatia humifusa by Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles in 1797,[4] before being given its current binomial name by prolific Scottish botanist Robert Brown in his 1810 work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae.
Brown also described a second species, Astroloma denticulatum, based on plant material that he had collected at Memory Cove in South Australia. It was later treated as a subspecies of A. humifusum (A. humifusum var. denticulatum), but is currently treated as a synonym of A. humifusum.[5][6]
In Western Australia, the name Astroloma humifusum has been misapplied to Astroloma prostratum.[7]
Styphelia humifusa is a name found in literature. Some authorities regard it as a synonym for Astroloma humifusum.[8]
Common names
Common names include cranberry heath and native cranberry,[1] as the fruits were eaten by early settlers.[2] An old name is juniper-leaved astroloma.[9] A common nineteenth century name was the ground berry.[10]
Distribution and habitat
The range is in southeastern Australia, from Newcastle in the north in eastern and central New South Wales, into Victoria, south-eastern South Australia and Tasmania.[3][11][12] It is generally found in open woodland, both on sandstone and clay soils,[3] as well as upland bogs. Associated plant species include Eucalyptus fibrosa, Eucalyptus sideroxylon, and Kunzea ambigua.[13]
Ecology
The eastern bettong (Bettongia gaimardi) eats the fruit.[14]
Uses
Requiring good drainage in the garden, Astroloma humifusum can be grown in rockeries.[15] The juicy berries are edible, although they are mostly made up of a large seed. They can be used to make jams or preserves.[2] The flavour of the berries has been described as "sickly sweet".[9]
The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that "The fruits of these dwarf shrubs have a viscid sweetish pulp, with a relatively large stone. The pulp is described by some as being "apple flavoured..."[10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Astroloma humifusum (Cav.) R. Br.". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?taxon_id=55333.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Elliot, Rodger W.; Jones, David L.; Blake, Trevor (1985). Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants Suitable for Cultivation: Vol. 2. Port Melbourne: Lothian Press. p. 248. ISBN 0-85091-143-5.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Native Plants of the Sydney District: An Identification Guide (2nd ed.). Kenthurst, NSW: Kangaroo Press. 2000. p. 87. ISBN 0-7318-1031-7.
- ↑ "Ventenatia humifusa Cav.". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?taxon_id=16115.
- ↑ "Astroloma denticulatum". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?taxon_id=55251.
- ↑ "Type of Astroloma denticulatum R.Br. [family EPACRIDACEAE"]. JSTOR Global Plants. http://plants.jstor.org/specimen/bm000797285?s=t. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
- ↑ "Name Currency Astroloma humifusum (Cav.)R.Br.". FloraBase. Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140322001428/http://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/search/current?id=6329. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
- ↑ "Styphelia humifusa". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew). http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2593230.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Bennett, George (1860). Gatherings of a naturalist in Australasia: being observations principally on the animal and vegetable productions of New South Wales, New Zealand, and some of the austral islands. John Van Voorst. pp. 370. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.221131. "astroloma humifusum."
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 J. H. Maiden (1889). The useful native plants of Australia : Including Tasmania. Turner and Henderson, Sydney. https://primo-slnsw.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=SLNSW_ALMA21105097830002626&context=L&vid=SLNSW&search_scope=EEA&tab=default_tab&lang=en_US. p. 8
- ↑ J. M. Powell. "New South Wales Flora Online: Astroloma humifusum". Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia. http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Astroloma~humifusum.
- ↑ "Astroloma humifusum". Electronic Flora of South Australia Fact Sheet. State Herbarium of South Australia. http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/cgi-bin/speciesfacts_display.cgi?genus=Astroloma&species=humifusum. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
- ↑ Benson, Doug; McDougall, Lyn (1995). "Ecology of Sydney Plants 3: families Cabombaceae to Eupomatiaceae". Cunninghamia 4 (2): 217–429. https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/RoyalBotanicGarden/media/RBG/Science/Cunninghamia/Volume%204%20-%201995/Volume-4(2)-1995-Cun4Ben217-431.pdf. Retrieved 2016-05-11.
- ↑ Hume, Ian D. (1999). Marsupial nutrition. Cambridge University Press. pp. 319. ISBN 9780521595551. https://books.google.com/books?id=v55COlrupRQC&q=astroloma+humifusum&pg=PA319.
- ↑ Gray, Marilyn (2010). "Astroloma humifusum". Archived from the original on 29 March 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110329114759/http://www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Residents/Yarra_Ranges_Plant_Directory/Yarra_Ranges_Local_Plant_Directory/Lower_Storey/Herbs_and_Groundcovers_1m/Astroloma_humifusum. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
Wikidata ☰ Q4811591 entry
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