''Rhadinothamnus rudis'' is a small shrub with needle-shaped, angular branchlets and single white flowers at the end of branches. This species and the three subspecies are

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 Western Australia.

Description

''Rhadinothamnus rudis'' is a shrub to high with

terete Terete is a term in botany used to describe a cross section that is circular, or like a distorted circle, with a single surface wrapping around it.Lichen Vocabulary, Lichens of North America Information, Sylvia and Stephen Sharnoff/ref> This is us ...

, angular branchlets. The leaves are variable they may be wide or narrowly notched at the apex or almost circular, long, smooth edges, papery to leathery texture, smooth, on a short petiole. The white flowers are borne singly in leaf axils on an angular

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long, wide and the underside covered with small, silvery scales. The stamens marginally shorter than the petals. The fruit is a capsule about high, almost smooth, either with a short triangular point or with a blunt beak. Flowering occurs from January to December.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1845 by

Friedrich Gottlieb Bartling Friedrich Gottlieb Bartling (December 9, 1798 – November 20, 1875) was a German botanist who was a native of Hanover. He studied natural sciences at the University of Göttingen, and in 1818 took a botanical journey through Hungary and Croatia ...

and he gave it the name ''Phebalium rude'', the description was published in Lehmann's''

Plantae Preissianae ''Plantae preissianae sive enumeratio plantarum quas in australasia occidentali et meridionali-occidentali annis 1838-1841 collegit Ludovicus Preiss'', more commonly known as ''Plantae preissianae'', is a book written by Johann Georg Christian Leh ...

''. In 1998

Paul G. Wilson Paul Graham Wilson (born 1928) is an Australian botanist. He has been a most prolific contributor to the journal ''Nuytsia (journal), Nuytsia'', contributing to the first issue in 1970 and to the 12th volume in 1998, which was dedicated to him f ...

changed the name to ''Rhadinothamnus rudis'' and published the name change in the journal

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

. There are three subspecies described by Paul Wilson and accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

: * ''Rhadinothamnus rudis'' subsp. ''rudis'', has young branchlets prominently angular, leaves wide, seed capsule mostly with a short beak; * ''Rhadinothamnus rudis'' subsp. ''amblycarpus'', has young branchlets barely to prominently angular, leaves linear-wedge shaped or narrowly to broadly heart shaped, leaves long, wide, seed capsule rounded at the apex and bluntly beaked; * ''Rhadinothamnus rudis'' subsp. ''linearis'', has leaves thick, narrow, tapering slightly toward the base, about long, wide, rounded at the apex, seed capsule more or less square, ending minutely in triangular point.

Distribution and habitat

''Rhadinothamnus rudis'' is found growing on hills and plains in clay, sand, rocky soils, limestone, laterite and quartzite from Albany to Esperance on the south coast of Western Australia. *Subspecies ''rudis'' occurs near the south coast between Point Irwin and

Cape Arid Cape Arid National Park is a national park located in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is situated east of Esperance and lies on the shore of the south coast from the eastern end of the Recherche Archipelago. The bay at its east ...

often growing over limestone on plains and gravelly hillside. Flowers throughout the year. *Subspecies ''amblycarpus'' grows on the south coast, more inland from

Nyabing Nyabing is a small town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. The name is of Aboriginal origin and is thought to derive from the Aboriginal word "ne-yameng", which is the name of an everlasting flower ''Rhodanthe manglesii.'' The ...

in the east to Esperance. Flowers sporadically throughout the year. *Subspecies ''linearis'' grows in the Russell Range on shallow, sandy soils over quartzite or granite. Flowers throughout the year.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15395032 Zanthoxyloideae Flora of Western Australia Taxa named by Friedrich Gottlieb Bartling