''Calectasia obtusa'', commonly known as a blue tinsel lily or blunt-leaved tinsel lily is a plant in the family

Dasypogonaceae Dasypogonaceae is a family of flowering plants, one that has not been commonly recognized by taxonomists; the plants it contains were usually included in the family Xanthorrhoeaceae. If valid, Dasypogonaceae includes four genera with 16 species. ...

growing as an erect, small shrub with stems to 50 cm. It 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 south-west of

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 ...

, widespread in most of its range but only known from nine populations.

Description

''Calectasia obtusa'' is an undershrub with stilt roots 30–55 mm long but no rhizome. It grows to a height of about 50 cm with several short side branches. Each leaf blade is

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

except at the margins, 4.5–8.5 x 0.5–0.9 mm, often pressed against the stem, the ends usually blunt and only rarely tapering to a short, sharp point. The base of the petals (strictly

tepals A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

) form a tube 7.7–8.8 mm long, while the outer part of the petals are wine red with blue margins fading to pale blue with age and spreading outwards to form a papery, star-like pattern. In the centre of the star are six yellow stamens forming a tube which does not change colour with age. The thin style extends beyond the stamens. It is similar to the other species of ''

Calectasia ''Calectasia'' is a genus of about fifteen species of flowering plants in the family Dasypogonaceae and is endemic to south-western Australia. Plants is this genus are small, erect shrubs with branched stems covered by leaf sheaths. The flowers ...

'' and is distinguished from them mainly by the combination of the absence of a

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

and the

glabrousness Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

and lack of a sharp point on the ends of the leaf blades. Flowers mostly appear from July to August.

Taxonomy and naming

''Calectasia obtusa'' is one of eleven species in the genus ''Calectasia''. It was described as a new species in 2001 by R.L. Barrett and K.W. Dixon from a specimen collected near

Cape Riche Cape Riche is a cape and rural locality in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. By road, it is 525 km south-east of Perth and 123 km north-east of Albany Facilities in the locality include a boat launching ramp and a ca ...

. is from the Latin ''obtusus'', "obtuse" referring to the blunt tip of the leaf.

Distribution and habitat

This species of tinsel lily is found in scattered populations, sometimes of only a few plants, between Kojonup and Hopetoun in the

South West Botanical Province Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna. The region is also known as the Southwest Aus ...

. It grows in grey clay

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

in open

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

or in near-coastal areas, in low

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

over

laterite Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

Conservation status

''Calectasia obtusa'' is classified as "Priority Three" by the Western Australian government department of parks and wildlife meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15588483 obtusa Endemic flora of Western Australia Commelinids of Australia Plants described in 2001 Taxa named by Russell Lindsay Barrett