''Teucrium disjunctum'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

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 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 inland Australia. It is an erect, openly-branched, hairy, greyish-white shrub, usually with egg-shaped to elliptic leaves, and white flowers arranged singly in leaf axils.

Description

''Teucrium disjunctum'' is an erect, openly-branched shrub that typically grows to a height of . Its branches are square in cross-section, greyish-green and covered with branched hairs and

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 ...

glands 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 ...

. The leaves are egg-shaped to elliptic, long, wide, sessile and covered with greyish-white hairs. The flowers are arranged singly in the axils of leaf-like

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 near the ends of the stems, each flower sessile or on a short

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 ...

. 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 are long, joined at the base for about with narrow triangular lobes. The petals are white, long, the lowest lobe long. Flowering occurs in most months with a peak from May to November and the fruit is spherical, glossy orange-red and in diameter.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 2014 by Kevin Thiele and

Kelly Anne Shepherd Kelly Anne Shepherd (born 1970) is an Australian botanist, who has published some 91 names. Career Shepherd earned a B.Sc. (Hon) in 1992 with a thesis entitled "Faecal Analysis of Mammalian Herbivores in the Perup Forest, Western Australia." ...

and given the name ''Spartothamnella canescens'' in the journal ''Nuytsia''. In 2017, Thiele and Shepherd changed the name to ''Teucrium disjunctum'' in a later edition of the same journal. 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 ...

(''disjunctum'') means "separate, distinct", referring to the three disjunct populations of this species.

Distribution and habitat

This germander grows in on rocky hills, gorges and scree slopes, often in sheltered positions. It occurs in the southern Northern Territory and adjacent areas of Western Australia and in two disjunct populations in Western Australia - one in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

and the other further south in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie and Yalgoo

biogeographic regions A biogeographic realm or ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms. They are subdivided into bioregions, which are further subdivided into ecoregions. De ...

Conservation status

''Teucrium disjunctum'' is listed as "not threatened" in Western Australia but as "near threatened" under th
Northern Territory Government Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1976

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q55073841 disjunctum Lamiales of Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Plants described in 2014 Taxa named by Kevin Thiele Taxa named by Kelly Anne Shepherd