''Spyridium × ramosissimum'', commonly known as branched spyridium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to Victoria in Australia. It is a small shrub with woolly-hairy branches, egg-shaped leaves, and crowded heads of hairy flowers with brown bracts.

Description

''Spyridium × ramosissimum'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of , its branches covered with woolly hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped to lance-shaped, long, wide and glabrous with prominent veins. The edges of the leaves curve slightly downwards, the upper surface greyish-green and the lower surface silky- or rusty-hairy with a prominent midvein. The heads of flowers are crowded with egg-shaped, brown bracts at the base, each head with only a few flowers. 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 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s are long, woolly-hairy and longer than the petals. Flowering occurs from August to October and the fruit is a capsule about long.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1922 by James Wales Claredon Audas who gave it the name ''Trymalium × ramosissimum'' in '' The Victorian Naturalist'' from specimens collected on Mount Difficult in the Grampians. In 2006, Jürgen Kellermann changed the name to ''Spyridium × ramosissimum'' in the journal '' Muelleria''.

Distribution

''Spyridium × ramosissimum'' is a hybrid between '' S. daltonii'' and '' S. parvifolium'' and is only known from the Grampians, where both parent species occur. It is not known to produce seed.

References

ramosissimum Rosales of Australia Flora of Victoria (state) Plants described in 1922 Plant nothospecies {{DEFAULTSORT:Spyridium ramosissimum