''Calothamnus formosus'' is a plant in the myrtle

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to the south-west of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It is a large, spreading, densely foliaged shrub with almost cylindrical, pointed leaves and red flowers in spring or summer. There are two subspecies, differing mainly in the length of their leaves. (In 2014 Craven, Edwards and Cowley proposed that the species be renamed ''Melaleuca aglaia''.)

Description

''Calothamnus formosus'' is a large, spreading, densely branched shrub growing to a height of about , sometimes higher, with thick bark on the older stems. Its leaves are crowded on the ends of the younger branches, long, wide, linear, almost circular in cross section and tapering to a sharp but not prickly point. The flowers are crimson and arranged in short clusters of 3 to 5, usually on the older, leafless stems. The petals are thin and papery, long. The

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s are arranged in claw-like bundles with 26 to 32 stamens per bundle. The claws are yellow-green near the base but otherwise crimson. Flowering occurs from August to December and is followed by fruits which are woody, roughly cylindrical capsules, long, in diameter and have a warty surface.

Taxonomy and naming

''Calothamnus formosus'' was first formally described in 1984 in '' Nuytsia'' by Trevor Hawkeswood from a specimen found on a roadside about south east of Denham. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''formosus'') is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word meaning “beautifully formed” or "handsome". There are two subspecies: * ''Calothamnus formosus'' subsp. ''formosus'', which has leaves that are mostly less than long and occurs in the

Shark Bay Shark Bay () is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The area is located approximately north of Perth, on the westernmost point of the Australian continent. UNESCO's listing of Shark Bay as a World Heritage S ...

area * ''Calothamnus formosus'' subsp. ''rigidus'', which has leaves that are mostly more than long and occurs between the Overlander Roadhouse and Yuna district

Distribution and habitat

''Calothamnus formosus'' is found in and between the Shark Bay and Yuna districts in the Carnarvon,

Geraldton Sandplains Geraldton Sandplains is an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion of Western Australia. It has an area of . The Geraldton Sandplains is part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion, as asses ...

and Yalgoo biogeographic regions. It grows in sand on sandplains.

Conservation

''Calothamnus formosus'' is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian government department of parks and wildlife.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15395116 formosus Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1984 Endemic flora of Western Australia