''Homoranthus virgatus'' commonly known as twiggy homoranthus, 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 ...

and is found growing in coastal areas of northern New South Wales and in Queensland. It is an upright shrub with wand-like branches, aromatic foliage and white to pink flowers in small clusters at the end of branches.

Description

''Homoranthus virgatus'' is an erect small shrub, high with smooth, stiff, lateral branches. The leaves are aromatic, arranged in opposite pairs at right angles to the preceding pair, long, and triangular in cross-section. The small, upturned, creamy-white to pink flowers are borne in pairs or fours at the end of branches in the upper leaf axils on a

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 ...

about long. The

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 is five-ribbed with wide, concave bracteoles, and the style extends about beyond the floral tube. Flowering occurs from August to September.

Taxonomy and naming

''Homoranthus virgatus'' was first formally described in 1843 by Johannes Conrad Schauer from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham and the description was published in ''Monographia Myrtacearum Xerocarpicarum''. 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 ...

(''virgatus'') is a Latin word meaning "of twigs" or "rodlike".

Distribution and habitat

Twiggy homoranthus grows in semi-shaded or open situations from Byfield and south to

Laurieton Laurieton is a coastal town on the Mid North Coast of the Australian state of New South Wales. Laurieton is the largest town in the Camden Haven district. Laurieton is 365 km

within 20 km of the coastline. Also on several islands close to the mainland of eastern Australia, e.g. Fraser, Bribie, Morton and Stradbroke Islands.

Conservation status

Widespread, often locally common and well reserved.

References

External links

The Australasian Virtual Herbarium – Occurrence data for ''Homoranthus virgatus''
{{Taxonbar, from= Q15367694 Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Myrtales of Australia virgatus Plants described in 1843