Homoranthus vagans

Homoranthus vagans is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in southern Queensland. It is an shrub with pointed linear leaves and with groups of up to ten yellow flowers in leaf axils near the end of branchlets. It is only known from a single population north of Inglewood.[2]

Homoranthus vagans
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Homoranthus
Species:
H. vagans
Binomial name
Homoranthus vagans

Description

Homoranthus vagans is a shrub 0.05–0.2 m (2–8 in) high and 0.5–2 m (2–7 ft) wide. The aromatic leaves are a dull grey-green, blade shaped and arranged opposite along the stem. The branchlets have 3-10 flowers held erect in leaf axils. Flowers have been recorded from August to October. [3]

Taxonomy and naming

Homoranthus vagans was first formally described in 2011 by Lachlan Copeland, Lyndley Craven and Jeremy Bruhl from a specimen collected by Copeland in 2001 and the description was published in Australian Systematic Botany.[4] The specific epithet (vagans) is derived from the Latin word vagus meaning "wandering" or "unsettled",[5] referring to habit of young branchlets of "wandering" over the ground, sometimes attaching to the ground with adventitious roots.[2]

Distribution and habitat

This species is currently known from two populations north west of Inglewood. Plants grow in deep sandy soil derived from sandstone.[3]

Conservation status

Homoranthus vagans is currently known from two small populations on leasehold land. ROTAP conservation code 2V using Briggs and Leigh (1996) and IUCN (2010) considered vulnerable.[3]

References
  1. "Homoranthus vagans". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  2. Copeland, Lachlan M.; Craven, Lyn A.; Bruhl, Jeremy J. (2011). "A taxonomic review of Homoranthus (Myrtaceae:Chamelaucieae)". Australian Systematic Botany. 24 (6): 360–361. doi:10.1071/SB11015.
  3. 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.
  4. "Homoranthus vagans". APNI. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  5. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 842.
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