''Darwinia glaucophylla'' is a plant in the myrtle family

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 ...

which grows as a prostrate shrub, sometimes forming extensive mats. It has bluish green leaves and white flowers in small groups which fade to reddish pink as they age. It is only known from about fifteen sites in the Gosford area and is listed as "threatened" in New South Wales legislation.

Description

''Darwinia glaucophylla'' is a prostrate shrub but with erect side branches which reach to a height of . The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs and are bluish green with a reddish tinge, glabrous, long and triangular in cross section. The flowers are arranged mostly in groups of between two and four, the groups on a stalk about long. There are leaf-like

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 ...

s long and reddish brown bracteoles at the base of the groups but which fall off as the flowers develop. The

floral cup In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and calyx tube. It ...

is long, about wide and has distinct ribs. The sepals are or less long and much shorter than the

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. The style is straight, white and long. Flowering occurs from July to November and is followed by fruit which is a tiny capsule containing a single seed in diameter.

Taxonomy and naming

''Darwinia glaucophylla'' was first formally described in 1962 by

Barbara Briggs Barbara Gillian Briggs (born 1934) is one of the foremost Australian botanists. The '' IK'' lists 205 names of plants which have been published or co-published by her. She was one of the botanists in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, of th1998APG ...

from a specimen she collected near

Kariong Kariong () is a locality of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia west of Gosford along the Central Coast Highway. It is part of the local government area. History Kariong's first British settler was W.H. Parry in 1901. The ...

and the description was published in '' Contributions from the New South Wales National Herbarium''. 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 ...

(''glaucophylla'') is derived from the Ancient Greek words ''glaukos'' meaning "bluish-green" or "gray" and ''phyllon'' meaning "leaf". Hybrids between this species and '' D. fascicularis'' are known, but are easily recognised as they have a more erect habit.

Distribution and habitat

This darwinia grows in heath and open forest in soils derived from sandstone. It is only known from about fifteen sites near Calga, Kariong and Somersby.

Conservation

''Darwinia glaucophylla'' is classified as "threatened" under the New South Wales '' Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016''. The main threats to the species are habitat degradation, inappropriate fire regimes and extension of a nearby sand mine. Some research suggests that the species may benefit from mowing and appropriate use of burning.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5226051 glaucophylla Flora of New South Wales Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1962 Taxa named by Barbara G. Briggs