''Homoranthus decumbens'' 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 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 a small area in

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_ ...

. It is a low, spreading shrub with cylindrical leaves arranged in alternating opposite pairs. The flowers are yellowish green and arranged singly in upper leaf

axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

Description

Flowers September to December and fruits October to December.

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1984 by Norman Byrnes who gave it the name of ''Darwinia decumbens'' and published the description in ''Austrobaileya''. In 1991,

Lyndley Craven Lyndley Alan Craven (3 September 1945 – 11 July 2014) was a botanist who became the Principal Research Scientist of the Australian National Herbarium. Lyndley ("Lyn") Craven worked for the CSIRO plant taxonomy unit of the New Guinea Survey Gro ...

and S.R.Jones changed the name to ''Homoranthus decumbens''. 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 ...

(''decumbens'') is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word meaning "lying down" or "reclining".

Distribution and habitat

Found in a small area north of

Chinchilla Chinchillas are either of two species (''Chinchilla chinchilla'' and ''Chinchilla lanigera'') of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha. They are slightly larger and more robust than ground squirrels, and are native to the Andes mount ...

Queensland. Grows on deep sandy soils in heath and shrubby woodland on flat terrain.

Conservation

''Homoranthus decumbens'' is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government EPBC Act of 1999. A very rare species with a highly restricted distribution. A ROTAP code of 2VC is appropriate, Briggs and Leigh (1996). IUCN (2010) considered vulnerable.

References

External links

The Australasian Virtual Herbarium – Occurrence data for ''Homoranthus decumbens''
{{taxonbar, from=Q15366854 Flora of Queensland Myrtales of Australia decumbens Plants described in 1984