''Dicrastylis lewellinii'' is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

within the genus, ''

Dicrastylis ''Dicrastylis'' is a genus of plants in the Lamiaceae, first described in 1855. The entire genus is endemic to Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainla ...

'', in the family

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

. It is found in

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 ...

, the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Description

''Dicrastylis lewellinii'' is a shrub, growing to 1 m high, in red sand, on sand dunes. Its stems are roughly circular in cross section, and have no peltate scales. The opposite and entire leaves are 10–15 mm long by 1–2.2 mm wide, and have branched (dendritic) hairs. There are no bracteoles, but there are bracts which are 3.5-7.5 mm long. The flowers are sessile. The calyx has five lobes (2.5–3 mm long), which are covered in dendritic hairs, and the mauve, purple, lilac or violet corolla is 4–9 mm long, with no dots or stripes in its throat. There are five stamens. It generally flowers in spring and summer.

Habitat

it is found in arid and semi-arid areas on sandy soils in spinifex communities and low shrublands.

Taxonomy

It was first described by

Ferdinand von Mueller 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 Vict ...

in 1873 as ''Chloanthes lewellinii'', but he redescribed it in 1880 as ''Dicrastylis lewellinii''.

Gallery

Dicrastylis lewellinii flowers Bloodwood Bore 2.jpg Dicrastylis lewellinii GVD flower.jpg Dicrastylis lewellinii habit.jpg

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15316949 lewellinii Eudicots of Western Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of South Australia Plants described in 1873 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller