''Beaufortia anisandra'', commonly known as dark beaufortia, is a plant in the myrtle

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...

, and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a densely branched shrub with egg-shaped, upward pointing leaves and which bears heads of dark bluish-purple to red flowers with

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

bundles of different lengths. It is reported to have an unpleasant odour.

Description

''Beaufortia anisandra'' is a densely branched shrub which grows to a height of . The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs and are egg-shaped to lance-shaped, long, rigid, concave in cross section with a midvein and several faint lateral veins. The flowers are red to dark purplish red and are arranged in roughly spherical heads on the ends of branches that continue to grow after flowering. The flowers have 5

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s, 5

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s and 5 bundles of stamens. The stamens are joined for most of their length, with about 3 separate filaments extending beyond the joined part. Some bundles are more than long while others in the same flower are much shorter. The variation is stamen length in the individual flowers is a distinguishing feature of this beaufortia. Flowering occurs from January to July or from October to December and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules, long, wide and more or less clustered. Its occurrence at Cape Riche was noted in 1854 by William Henry Harvey ("Dr. Harvey") who wrote: "It always reminds me of Sir Francis B., because I remember your telling me that he likes a plant to have a bad smell rather than none at all; and this namesake of his would surely please him, for it has an awful stench."

Taxonomy and naming

''Beaufortia anisandra'' was first formally described in 1843 by Johannes Conrad Schauer in ''Dissertatio phytographica de Regelia, Beaufortia et Calothamno''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''anisandra'') means "unequal male", referring to the length of the stamens.

Distribution and habitat

''Beaufortia anisandra'' mainly occurs near Albany and Esperance in the Avon Wheatbelt,

Esperance Plains Esperance Plains, also known as Eyre Botanical District, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia on the south coast between the Avon Wheatbelt and Hampton bioregions, and bordered to the north by the Mallee region. It is a pl ...

and

Jarrah Forest Jarrah forest is tall open forest in which the dominant overstory tree is ''Eucalyptus marginata'' (jarrah). The ecosystem occurs only in the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia. It is most common in the biogeographic region named in ...

bioregions A bioregion is an ecology, ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a biogeographic realm, but larger than an ecoregion or an ecosystem, in the World Wide Fund for Nature classification scheme. There is also an attempt to ...

of south-western

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It grows in sand and rocky quartzite soils on hills, rocky outcrops and plains.

Conservation

''Beaufortia anisandra'' is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Western Australian government The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state de ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15396957 anisandra Plants described in 1843 Taxa named by Johannes Conrad Schauer Endemic flora of Western Australia