''Eremaea hadra'' 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 ...

and is endemic to the

south-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

of Western Australia. It is a shrub with thin, flat and very prickly leaves. It has violet-coloured flowers on the ends of its branches in late spring followed by smooth, cup-shaped fruits.

Description

''Eremaea hadra'' is a shrub growing to a height of with erect branches and hairy younger branches. The leaves are thin, flat, long, wide, narrow elliptic in shape and taper to a sharp, prickly point. There is usually a single vein visible on the lower surface. The flowers are deep violet and occur in groups of 2 to 9 on the ends of the longer branches which grew in the previous year or short ones of the latest growth. There are 5 sepals which are densely covered with hairs on the outside surface and 5

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 long. 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, which give the flower its colour, are arranged in 5 bundles, each containing 19 to 25 stamens. Flowering occurs from October to December and is followed by fruits which are woody capsules. The capsules are long, smooth on the outer surface and cup-shaped or roughly spherical.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eremaea hadra'' was first formally described in 1993 by

Roger Hnatiuk Roger James Hnatiuk (born 1946) is a Canadian-Australian botanist specialising in biogeography and plant ecology. Background Hnatiuk was awarded 1st class honours in botany from the University of Alberta, and went on to graduate with an MSc in p ...

in Nuytsia. 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 ...

(''hadra'') is from the Ancient Greek '' ἁδρός (hadrós)'' meaning "stout" or "strong".

Distribution and habitat

''Eremaea hadra'' is found on the edge of the escarpment between the Arrowsmith and Hill River districts in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains and

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...

biogeographic regions. It grows in gravelly 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

''Eremaea hadra'' is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15395901 hadra Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1993 Endemic flora of Western Australia