Homoranthus brevistylis facts for kids

Homoranthus brevistylis is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in Queensland. It is an upright shrub with pointed, linear leaves and with groups of up to four pale yellow flowers in leaf axils. It is only known from the Blackdown Tableland National Park.

Description

An ascending shrub 0.2–0.4 m (0.7–1 ft) tall and 0.5–2 m (2–7 ft) wide. The aromatic leaves are a dull grey-green, arranged in opposite pairs. The peak flowering time is in spring but has been recorded from May to September.

Taxonomy and naming

Homoranthus brevistylis was first formally described in 2011 by Lachlan Copeland, Lyndley Craven and Jeremy Bruhl from a specimen collected on the Blackdown Tableland in 2000 and the description was published in Australian Systematic Botany. The specific epithet (brevistylis) refers to the short style of this species.

Distribution and habitat

This species is found in a single population ~100km south-east of Emerald, Queensland, Hakea brevistylis grow in skeletal, sandy soil in crevices of sandy outcrops.

Conservation status

Due to its small population a ROTAP conservation code 2ECit using Briggs and Leigh criteria (1996). IUCN (2010) 'Endangered'.