Brachyloma preissii - Flickr - jeans Photos

''Brachyloma'' is a genus of about 16 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae 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 Australia. Plants in the genus ''Brachyloma'' are shrubs with more or less erect leaves and

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

flowers usually arranged singly in leaf axils, the 5 petals fused to form a cylindrical or bell-shaped tube, the

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 ...

s sometimes enclosed in the petal tube.

Description

Plant in the genus ''Brachyloma'' are erect or spreading shrubs with

simple Simple or SIMPLE may refer to: *Simplicity, the state or quality of being simple Arts and entertainment * ''Simple'' (album), by Andy Yorke, 2008, and its title track * "Simple" (Florida Georgia Line song), 2018 * "Simple", a song by Johnn ...

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

or shortly

petiolate Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, a ...

leaves with more or less parallel or spreading veins on the lower surface. The flowers are bisexual and usually arranged singly in leaf axils, each flower with a

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

at the base and bracteoles grading to the size of the 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. The 5 petals are fused at the base to form a cylindrical to bulbous, bell-shaped tube with erect to curved-back lobes. The fruit is a

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

with a hard endocarp.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Brachyloma'' was first formally described in 1845 by Otto Wilhelm Sonder in Lehmnn's ''

Plantae Preissianae ''Plantae preissianae sive enumeratio plantarum quas in australasia occidentali et meridionali-occidentali annis 1838-1841 collegit Ludovicus Preiss'', more commonly known as ''Plantae preissianae'', is a book written by Johann Georg Christian Leh ...

'' and the first species he described (the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

species) was '' Brachyloma preissii''.

Species list

The following is a list of ''Brachyloma'' species accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

as of 10 September 2023: * '' Brachyloma baxteri'' (

A.Cunn. Allan Cunningham (13 July 1791 – 27 June 1839) was an English botanist and explorer, primarily known for his travels in Australia to collect plants. Early life Cunningham was born in Wimbledon, Surrey, England, the son of Allan Cunnin ...

DC. Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candolle ...

) Puente-Lel. (W.A.) * '' Brachyloma ciliatum'' ( R.Br.)

Benth. George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

– fringed brachyloma, fringed daphne heath (Vic., Tas.) * ''

Brachyloma daphnoides ''Brachyloma daphnoides'', commonly known as daphne heath, is a flowering plant in the family Ericaceae. It is a small upright shrub with dull grey-green leaves and white tubular flowers. Description ''Brachyloma daphnoides'' is a small, upright ...

'' (

Sm. __NOTOC__ Sir James Edward Smith (2 December 1759 – 17 March 1828) was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society. Early life and education Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He displayed a ...

) Benth. - daphne heath (S.A., Vic, N.S.W., Qld.) * '' Brachyloma delbi'' Cranfield (W.A.) * '' Brachyloma depressum'' (

F.Muell. Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victo ...

) Benth. – spreading brachyloma, spreading heath (Vic., Tas.) * '' Brachyloma djerral'' Cranfield & Hislop (W.A.) * '' Brachyloma elusum'' Hislop & Cranfield (W.A.) * '' Brachyloma ericoides'' (

Schltdl. Diederich Franz Leonhard von Schlechtendal (27 November 1794, Xanten – 12 October 1866, Halle an der Saale, Halle) was a German botanist. He studied in Berlin, in 1819 becoming curator of the Botanical Garden in Berlin, Royal Herbarium. He was ...

) Sond. (Vic., S.A.) * '' Brachyloma geissoloma'' (F.Muell.) Cranfield (W.A.) * '' Brachyloma mogin'' Cranfield (W.A.) * '' Brachyloma nguba'' Cranfield (W.A.) * '' Brachyloma pirara'' Cranfield & Hislop (W.A.) * '' Brachyloma preissii'' Sond. (W.A.) * '' Brachyloma saxicola'' J.T.Hunter (N.S.W.) * '' Brachyloma scortechinii'' F.Muell. (Qld., N.S.W.) * '' Brachyloma stenolobum'' Hislop & Cranfield (W.A.)

Distribution

Species of ''Brachyloma'' occur in all Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory, but not the Northern Territory.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1937459 Epacridoideae Ericaceae genera Taxa named by Otto Wilhelm Sonder