Homoranthus coracinus

Homoranthus coracinus is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in Queensland. It is a low, spreading shrub with pointed, narrow egg-shaped leaves and groups of up to six flowers with black petals. It is only known from a single population in the Ka Ka Mundi part of the Carnarvon National Park.[2][3]

Homoranthus coracinus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Homoranthus
Species:
H. coracinus
Binomial name
Homoranthus coracinus
Occurrence data from AVH

Description

Flowers April, May and September.Distinguished by its pendulous flowers, orange bracteole and dark purple to black sepals.[4]

Taxonomy and naming

Homoranthus coracinus was first formally described in 2000 by Anthony Bean from a specimen collected in the Ka Ka Mundi National Park (now park of Carnarvon National Park) in 1999. The description was published in Austrobaileya.[5] The specific epithet (coracinus) is a Latin word meaning "ravenlike" or "black as a crow",[6] referring to the colour of the petals.[2]

Distribution and habitat

Endemic to Mount Mooloolong area in Carnarvon National Park, central Queensland. Grows in heath on shallow soils on a sandstone outcrop.[4]

Conservation status

Known from a single population. Bean (2000) species considered endangered. ROTAP code of 2ECit using Briggs and Leigh (1996) IUCN (2010) considered 'Endangered'.[4]

References
  1. "Homoranthus coracinus". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  2. Bean, Anthony (2000). "Homoranthus coracinus". Austrobaileya. 5 (4): 687–689.
  3. Copeland, Lachlan M.; Craven, Lyn A.; Bruhl, Jeremy J. (2011). "A taxonomic review of Homoranthus (Myrtaceae:Chamelaucieae)". Australian Systematic Botany. 24 (6): 372. doi:10.1071/SB11015.
  4. Copeland, Lachlan M.; Craven, Lyn A.; Bruhl, Jeremy J. (2011). "A taxonomic review of Homoranthus (Myrtaceae: Chamelaucieae)". Australian Systematic Botany. 24 (6): 351. doi:10.1071/SB11015.
  5. "Homoranthus Coracinus". APNI. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  6. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 148.
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