''Homoranthus darwinioides'', commonly known as fairy bells, is a species of flowering plant in the 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 ...

. It is a small, spreading shrub with pendulous yellow and pink flowers, grey-green leaves and is endemic to New South Wales.

Description

''Homoranthus darwinioides'' is a small, spreading shrub high, wide, smooth stems with a stiff upright habit. The greenish-grey leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, fleshy, needle-shaped, long, wide. The pendulous, conspicuous yellow and pink flowers are borne in pairs in upper leaf axils on a pedicel long. The small

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 are leaf-like, persistent during and after the flowering period,

calyx Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...

tube about long with 5-7 fringed awns of equal length. The prominent style protrudes above the petals. Flowering occurs primarily in spring and summer, although may sporadically throughout the year.

Taxonomy and naming

''Homoranthus darwinioides'' was first formally described in 1898 by Joseph Maiden and

Daniel Ludwig Ernst Betche Daniel Ludwig Ernst Betche (31 December 1851, in Potsdam – 28 June 1913, in Sydney) was a German-Australian horticulturist and botanist. His mother died at his birth and he was of delicate constitution all his life. His father was sufficiently ...

and given the name ''Verticordia darwinioides'' and the description was published in ''

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales The Linnean Society of New South Wales promotes ''the Cultivation and Study of the Science of Natural History in all its Branches'' and was founded in Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) in 1874 and incorporated in 1884. History The Society succ ...

''. It was transferred to the genus ''

Homoranthus ''Homoranthus'' is a genus of about thirty species of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and all are endemic to Australia. Plants in this genus share similarities with those in both ''Darwinia'' and ''Verticordia''. They are shrubs with thei ...

'' in 1922 by botanist Edwin Cheel and published in ''Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales''. 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 ...

(''darwinioides'') refers to the similarity to the genus ''

Darwinia Darwinia may refer to: * ''Darwinia'' (plant) Rudge 1815, a genus of Myrtaceae found only in Australia *''Darwinia'' Raf., a synonym of the legume genus ''Sesbania'' Adans. * ''Darwinia'' (video game), a 2005 video game by Introversion Software * '' ...

''.

Distribution and habitat

Fairy bells grows in shrubby woodland in deep sandy soils over sandstone. It has a scattered distribution on the western slopes and central tablelands from just north of

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

to west of

Denman Denman may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Denman Glacier, near Antarctica * Denman Shire, New South Wales, Australia ** Denman, New South Wales, a town in the Hunter Valley of Australia * Denman Island, one of the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Can ...

Conservation status

''Homoranthus darwinioides'' is a priority species under the Threatened Species Strategy and a 'keep watch' species under the NSW Government Saving our Species program. An uncommon species considered vulnerable by Briggs and Leigh(1996) and given a ROTAP conservation code of 3VCa.

References

External links

The Australasian Virtual Herbarium – Occurrence data for ''Homoranthus darwinioides''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5891581 darwinioides Flora of New South Wales