''Stenanthera'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

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 ...

s in the

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

Ericaceae The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...

. Most are low shrubs with leaves that are paler on the lower surface, tube-shaped flowers and with the fruit a drupe. There are three species, formerly included in the genus '' Astroloma''.

Description

Plants in the genus ''Stenanthera'' are mainly low shrubs with leaves that are paler on the lower surface where the veins are almost parallel to palmate. The flowers are borne in leaf axils and have both male and female organs. There are bracts and

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 o ...

and the base of the flower and the petals are joined to form a more or less cylindrical tube. The petal lobes are triangular to egg-shaped and erect or turned backwards, usually with hairs on the inner side. The anthers protrude from the petal tube but are hidden by the petal lobes. The

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

is thread-like and equal in length to, or longer than the petal tube. The fruit is a drupe with a hard

endocarp Fruit anatomy is the plant anatomy of the internal structure of fruit. Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Aggr ...

Taxonomy and naming

The genus ''Stenanthera'' was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a flora of Australia written by botanist Robert Brown and published in 1810. Often referred to as ''Prodromus Flora Novae ...

''. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

is '' S. pinifolia''. In 1868,

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

transferred the genus to '' Astroloma'' as ''Astroloma'' sect. ''Stenanthera'' in ''

Flora Australiensis ''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume flora of Australia published be ...

'' but following genetic studies in 2013, the genus ''Stenanthera'' was resurrected. The name of the genus comes from

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

words meaning "narrow" and "flower".

Species list

The following species names are 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 ...

as at January 2020: * '' Stenanthera conostephioides''

Sonder Sonder may refer to: Geography *Mount Sonder, mountain in Australia *Sonder, village in Minahasa Regency, Indonesia People *Otto Wilhelm Sonder (1812–1881), German botanist and pharmacist Other uses * Sonder (Dermot Kennedy album), ''Sonder'' ( ...

(flame heath) - South Australia, Victoria * '' Stenanthera pinifolia'' R.Br (pine heath) – New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania * '' Stenanthera pungens'' ( Keighery) Hislop – Western Australia

Distribution

''Stenanthera'' species are found south-western Western Australia and in south-eastern Australia.

Use in horticulture

Stenantheras are difficult to grow and maintain in a garden but '' S. pinifolia'' can be propagated from cuttings and grown in well-drained soil in a semi-shaded position.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6133982 Ericaceae genera Flora of Australia