''Pityrodia jamesii'' is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the mint

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

and is endemic to

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

, Australia. It is a spreading shrub with hairy, yellowish brown stems, sticky, hairy, egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves and white, bell-like flowers.

Description

''Pityrodia jamesii'' is a spreading, hairy shrub which grows to a height of about , its branches covered with yellowish hairs. The leaves are lance-shaped to egg-shaped, sticky when young, mostly long and wide with the edges rolled under. They are crowded near the ends of the branches and are hairy and

glandular In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

with raised veins on the underside. The flowers are arranged 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 ...

s with

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 and smaller

bracteoles 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 ...

. The five

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are joined at the base and form a bell-shaped tube that is glandular and hairy on the outside and

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

inside. The petals are white long and joined for about half their length to form a bell shaped tube with five lobes on the end. The lower three lobes are free from each other, long, wide and the upper two lobes are long, about wide and joined for most of their length. The four

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s extend slightly beyond the end of the tube, one pair slightly shorter than the other. Flowering occurs in most months and is followed by on oval, hairy fruit long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

''Pityrodia jamesii'' was first formally described in 1979 by

Raymond Specht Raymond Louis Specht (19 July 1924 – 13 February 2021) was an Australian plant ecologist, conservationist and academic, who participated in the Arnhem Land Scientific Expedition of 1948. Early life Raymond Louis Specht was born in 1924 in ...

from a specimen collected from sandstone hills near

Gunbalanya, Northern Territory Gunbalanya (also spelt Kunbarlanja, and historically referred to as Oenpelli) is an Aboriginal Australian town in west Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia, about east of Darwin. The main language spoken in the community is Kunwi ...

during the third

American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land In February 1948, a team of Australian and American researchers and support staff came together in northern Australia to begin, what was then, one of the largest scientific expeditions ever to have taken place in Australia—the American-Australia ...

in 1951. The description was published in ''Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land No. 3 Botany and Plant Ecology''. 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 ...

(''jamesii'') honours Stewart James who assisted with collection of specimens and was an agricultural advisor.

Distribution

This pityrodia occurs in Arnhem Land, especially near the East and South Alligator Rivers.

Ecology

It is one of the only food plants of the Leichhardt grasshopper.

Conservation

''Pityrodia byrnesii'' is classified as "least concern" under the

Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 2000 A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international relations, international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extr ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15351284 jamesii Plants described in 1979 Flora of the Northern Territory