''Hemiandra'' is a genus of nine species of flowering plants of the family Lamiaceae 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 else ...

to Western Australia. Plants in the genus ''Hemiandra'' are shrubs with

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 ...

leaves arranged in opposite pairs, petals with five lobes arranged in two "lips" and the fruit a capsule usually containing four nuts.

Description

Plants in the genus ''Hemiandra'' are prostrate to medium shrubs with rigid, leathery, sessile leaves arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers have five egg-shaped

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 coine ...

s fused at the base and five petals fused at the base to form a corolla with two "lips". The upper lip short of the corolla is erect with two lobes, the lower lip longer, spreading and three-lobed. The middle lobe itself often has two lobes. The flowers are white, pink or purple, often spotted in the throat. There are four stamens and a single

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 ...

with two stigmas. The fruit is a capsule usually containing four nuts.

Taxonomy

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

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 ...

'' and the first species he described was '' Hemiandra pungens''. The name ''Hemiandra'' means "half male", referring to the anthers that are 1-celled.

Species list

The following is a list of species of ''Hemiandra'' 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 2021: * '' Hemiandra coccinea'' O.H.Sarg. * '' Hemiandra gardneri'' O.H.Sarg. * '' Hemiandra glabra''

Benth. 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 ...

* '' Hemiandra incana'' Bartl. * '' Hemiandra leiantha'' Benth. * '' Hemiandra linearis'' Benth. * '' Hemiandra pungens'' R.Br. * '' Hemiandra rubriflora'' O.H.Sarg. * '' Hemiandra rutilans'' O.H.Sarg.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2701062 Lamiaceae Endemic flora of Australia Lamiaceae genera Lamiales of Australia