Spyridium Leucopogon Habit

''Spyridium'' is a genus of about thirty species of flowering plants in the family Rhamnaceae, and is endemic to Australia. Plants in the genus ''Spyridium'' are shrubs or subshrubs usually with small leaves, flowers usually in clusters of small composite heads, the individual flowers small and densely woolly-hairy, and the fruit a capsule. Species of ''Spyridium'' are found in all Australian states except Queensland.

Description

Plants in the genus ''Spyridium'' are shrubs or subshrubs, usually less than tall and have hairy branchlets. The leaves are arranged alternately along the branches and are usually small, with papery brown stipules at the base. The flowers are small, bisexual, densely white woolly-hairy, sessile and usually borne in small composite heads with small brown bracts at the base, the heads themselves usually clustered in a corymbose cyme. There are five sepals, five petals and three carpels, and the fruit is a capsule with the remains of the sepals attached.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Spyridium'' was first formally described in 1837 by Eduard Fenzl in Stephan Endlicher's '' Enumeratio plantarum quas in Novae Hollandiae ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus Liber Baro de Hügel'' and the first species described was ''Spyridium eriocephalum''. The genus name (''Spyridium'') means "a small basket", referring to the bracts surrounding the clusters of flowers.

Species list

The names of the following species of ''Spyridium'' are accepted by the Australian Plant Census as at June 2022:

*''Spyridium bifidum'' (F.Muell.) F.Muell. ex Benth. – forked spyridium (S.A.)
*''Spyridium burragorang'' K.R.Thiele (N.S.W.)
*''Spyridium buxifolium'' (Fenzl) K.R.Thiele (N.S.W.)
*''Spyridium cinereum'' N.A.Wakef. – tiny spyridium (N.S.W., Vic.)
*''Spyridium coactilifolium'' Reissek – butterfly spyridium (S.A.)
*''Spyridium coalitum'' Kellerman & W.R.Barker (S.A.)
*''Spyridium cordatum'' (Turcz.) Benth. (W.A.)
*''Spyridium daltonii'' (F.Muell.) Kellermann (Vic.)
*''Spyridium eriocephalum'' Fenzl – heath spyridium, heath dustymiller (N.S.W., Vic., S.A., Tas.)
*''Spyridium erymnocladum'' W.R.Barker (S.A.)
*''Spyridium fontis-woodii'' Kellerman & W.R.Barker – Woods Well spyridium (S.A.)
*'' Spyridium furculentum'' W.R.Barker & Kellerman – forked spyridium (Vic.)
*''Spyridium glaucum'' Rye (W.A.)
*'' Spyridium globulosum'' (Labill.) Benth. – basket bush (W.A.)
*'' Spyridium gunnii'' (Hook.f.) Benth. (Tas.)
*'' Spyridium halmaturinum'' (F.Muell.) F.Muell. ex Benth. (S.A.)
*''Spyridium lawrencei'' (Hook.f.) Benth. (Tas.)
*''Spyridium leucopogon'' (F.Muell. ex Reissek) F.Muell. (S.A.)
*'' Spyridium majoranifolium'' (Fenzl) Rye (W.A.)
*''Spyridium microcephalum'' (Turcz.) Benth. (W.A.)
*''Spyridium minutum'' Rye (W.A.)
*''Spyridium montanum'' Rye (W.A.)
*''Spyridium mucronatum'' Rye (W.A.)
*'' Spyridium nitidum'' N.A.Wakef. (S.A., Vic.)
*'' Spyridium obcordatum'' (Hook.f.) W.M.Curtis (Tas.)
*''Spyridium obovatum'' (Hook.) Benth. (Tas.)
*'' Spyridium oligocephalum'' (Turcz.) Benth. (W.A.)
*''Spyridium parvifolium'' (Hook.) F.Muell. (S.A., N.S.W., A.C.T., Vic., Tas.)
*'' Spyridium phlebophyllum'' (F.Muell.) F.Muell. (S.A.)
*''Spyridium phylicoides'' Reissek (S.A.)
*'' Spyridium polycephalum'' (Turcz.) Rye (W.A.)
* ''Spyridium'' × ''ramosissimum'' (Audas) Kellermann (Vic.)
*''Spyridium riparium'' Rye (W.A.)
*'' Spyridium scabridum'' (Tate) Kellerman & W.R.Barker (S.A.)
*'' Spyridium scortechinii'' (F.Muell.) K.R.Thiele (N.S.W., Qld.)
*''Spyridium spadiceum'' (Fenzl) Benth. (W.A.)
*'' Spyridium spathulatum'' F.Muell. ex Benth. (W.A., S.A.)
*'' Spyridium stenophyllum'' (Reissek) Kellerman & W.R.Barker (S.A.)
*'' Spyridium subochreatum'' (F.Muell.) Reissek (W.A., S.A., Vic.)
*'' Spyridium thymifolium'' Reissek (S.A.)
*'' Spyridium tricolor'' W.R.Barker & Rye (W.A., S.A.)
*'' Spyridium ulicinum'' (Hook.) Benth. (Tas.)
*''Spyridium vexilliferum'' (Hook.) Reissek (S.A., Vic., Tas.)
*''Spyridium villosum'' (Turcz.) Benth. (W.A.)
*'' Spyridium waterhousei'' F.Muell. (S.A.)

References

{{Authority control

Rhamnaceae genera
Rosales of Australia
Taxa named by Eduard Fenzl