''Hybanthus calycinus'' (wild violet) is a perennial herb of the violet family,

Violaceae Violaceae is a family of flowering plants established in 1802, consisting of about 1000 species in about 25 genera. It takes its name from the genus ''Viola'', the violets and pansies. Older classifications such as the Cronquist system placed t ...

. The species is endemic to the south-west of

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 20 to 60 mm high and has leaves which are 20 to 45 mm long. Racemes of 5 or more mauve flowers are produced between June and October in the species' native range. It is commonly found in coastal areas on sandy soils in

banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. ''Banksias'' range i ...

woodland and shrubland communities. The species was first formally described in 1824 by botanist

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candol ...

in ''Prodomus''. In 1876, botanist

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

transferred it to the genus ''

Hybanthus ''Hybanthus'' (green-violet) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Violaceae. This genus name is Greek for "humpback flower", referring to the drooping pedicels of plants that are part of this genus. The genus is grossly polyphyletic and m ...

'' in '' Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae''.

References

External links

* calycinus Rosids of Western Australia Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle {{Violaceae-stub