''Eremaea'' × ''codonocarpa'' is a plant in the myrtle

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 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 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 ...

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 ...

. It is thought to be a stabilised hybrid between two subspecies of ''Eremaea''. It is a small shrub with triangular leaves and flowers a shade of pink to purple on the ends of the branches.

Description

''Eremaea'' × ''codonocarpa'' is a sometimes an erect shrub, sometimes prostrate, growing to a height of about . The leaves are long, wide, linear to narrow egg-shaped tapering to a point and more or less triangular in cross section. They have a covering of fine hairs and one, sometimes three veins on the lower surface. The flowers are pink to deep pink and occur in small groups (usually pairs) on the end of short branches from longer ones formed the previous year. The outer surface of the flower cup (the

hypanthium 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 densely hairy. There are 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 26 stamens. Flowering occurs from October to November and is followed by fruits which are woody capsules. The capsules are more or less urn-shaped, long with a rough, flaky surface.

Taxonomy and naming

''Eremaea'' × ''codonocarpa'' was first formally described in 1993 by

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

in the journal ''

'' from a specimen found near Jurien Bay. Hnatiuk considers ''Eremaea'' × ''codonocarpa'' to be a stabilised hybrid between ''Eremaea asterocarpa'' subsp. ''asterocarpa'' and ''Eremaea violacea'' subsp. ''raphiophylla''. That view is supported by isozyme studies. The name ''codonocarpa'' is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

words ''κώδων (kódon)'' meaning “bell” and ''καρπός (karpós)'' meaning "fruit", alluding to the urn-shaped or bell-shaped fruits.

Distribution and habitat

''Eremaea'' × ''codonocarpa'' occurs in the Irwin district in the 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 sandy

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 ...

on sandplains.

Conservation

''Eremaea'' × ''codonocarpa'' 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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eremaea codonocarpa codonocarpa Hybrid plants Myrtales of Australia Plants described in 1993 Endemic flora of Western Australia