''Spyridium fontis-woodii'', commonly known as Woods Well spyridium, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales. The family contains about 55 genera and 950 species. The Rhamnaceae h ...

and is

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 a small area of

Coorong National Park Coorong National Park is a protected area located in South Australia about south-east of Adelaide, that predominantly covers a coastal lagoon ecosystem officially known as The Coorong and the Younghusband Peninsula on the Coorong's southern si ...

in South Australia. It is a slender shrub with softly-hairy young stems, broadly egg-shaped to broadly heart-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and head of white to cream-coloured flowers.

Description

''Spyridium fontis-woodii'' is a slender shrub that typically grows to a height of up to , its young stems softly-hairy with rust-coloured or greyish, simple and star-shaped hairs. The leaves are broadly egg-shaped to broadly heart-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a petiole long with brown, egg-shaped

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

s long at the base. The leaves are covered with white to greyish hairs, densely so on the lower surface. The

heads A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may no ...

of flowers are in diameter with 4 or 5 floral leaves at the base, the individual flowers densely packed,

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

, and white to cream-coloured. The

floral tube In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the Sepal, calyx, the petal, corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and cal ...

is long, the

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 long and the petals long. Flowering has been observed in October and the fruit is a capsule about long.

Taxonomy

''Spyridium fontis-woodii'' was first formally described in 2012 by Jürgen Kellermann and

William Barker William Barker may refer to: Politicians *William Barker (translator) ( 1570), English translator and MP for Great Yarmouth and Bramber * William Barker (MP for Berkshire) (died 1685), English Member of Parliament for Berkshire * Sir William Bark ...

in the journal '' Muelleria'' from specimens collected near Woods Well in Coorong National Park in 1995. 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 ...

(''fontis-woodii'') is a reference to the type location, ''fons'' being a Latin word meaning "well" or "spring".

Distribution

This species of ''Spyridium'' grows in open shrubland on partly-exposed limestone, and is endemic to an area near Woods Well in the Coorong National Park in South Australia.

Conservation status

This species is listed as "critically endangered" under the Australian Government ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

''. The main threats to the species include clearance of native vegetation, road maintenance, browsing by rabbits and hares, and weed invasion.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17243031 fontis-woodii Rosales of Australia Flora of South Australia Plants described in 2012 Taxa named by William Robert Barker