''Homoranthus prolixus'', commonly known as granite homoranthus is a 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 ...

and is endemic to northern New South Wales. It is a spreading shrub with linear to lance-shaped leaves and groups of up to six yellow to red flowers in the 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

''Homoranthus prolixus'' is a spreading shrub to high with a mostly ascending growth habit, and branches that arch upwards at the apex. The dull, blue-green leaves have a whitish bloom,

decussate Decussation is used in biological contexts to describe a crossing (due to the shape of the Roman numeral for ten, an uppercase 'X' (), ). In Latin anatomical terms, the form is used, e.g. . Similarly, the anatomical term chiasma is named aft ...

, linear to oblong-lance shaped, long, wide, upper surface flat or occasionally concave, more or less smooth and gradually tapering to a point on a petiole long. The one to six yellow to red flowers are borne on upper branches, about long, petals broadly egg-shaped, long, floral tube five ribbed, smooth, long, style long, and the

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

long. Flowering occurs from September to December and fruits from September to January.

Taxonomy and naming

''Homoranthus prolixus'' was first formally described in 1991 by Lyndley Craven and S.R.Jones and the description was published in '' Australian Systematic Botany''. 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 ...

(''prolixus'') is a Latin word meaning "stretched out" or "long".

Distribution and habit

Granite homoranthus grows from Inverell to

Bendemeer Bendemeer () is a village of 485 people on the Macdonald River in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is situated at the junction of the New England and Oxley Highways. Bendemeer is also famous for producing the number on ...

in northern New South Wales in woodland and heath on shallow sandy soils on and around granite or acid volcanic outcrops.

Conservation status

This homoranthus is considered vulnerable by Briggs and Leigh (1996), but now known to be well reserved and often locally abundant. The ''Rare or Threatened Australian Plants'' conservation code of 3RCa is considered more appropriate.

References

External links

The Australasian Virtual Herbarium – Occurrence data for ''Homoranthus prolixus''
{{Taxonbar, from= Q15367509 Flora of New South Wales Myrtales of Australia prolixus Plants described in 1991