Balaustion grande is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a low-growing shrub with oblong or narrowly oblong leaves and usually white or pale pink flowers with 16 to 28 stamens fused in a ring.
| Balaustion grande | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Balaustion |
| Species: | B. grande
|
| Binomial name | |
| Balaustion grande | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Baeckea grandis E.Pritz. | |
Description
editBalaustion grande is a low-growing shrub that typically grows to 40–50 cm (16–20 in) high and 20–100 cm (7.9–39.4 in) wide. Its leaves are oblong or narrowly oblong, often clustered, mostly 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long and 0.5–1 mm (0.020–0.039 in) wide and sessile or on a petiole up to 0.3 mm (0.012 in) long. The flowers are 8–13 mm (0.31–0.51 in) in diameter and borne in up to 6 pairs, each flower on a pedicel 6–8.5 mm (0.24–0.33 in) long. The floral tube is 1.0–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) long and 1.75–3.5 mm (0.069–0.138 in) wide and the sepals are egg-shaped and deep maroon, 1.3–3 mm (0.051–0.118 in) long and 2.3–3.5 mm (0.091–0.138 in) wide. The petals are usually white or pale pink, rarely pink, and 2.5–6 mm (0.098–0.236 in) long with 16 to 28 stamens fused in a ring. Flowering has been recorded from July to October, and the fruit is a capsule 1.0–1.4 mm (0.039–0.055 in) long and 0.55–0.65 mm (0.022–0.026 in) wide.[2][3]
This species is distinguished from other species of Balaustion by it stamens that are fused at their bases, and from its pedicels that are much longer than its peduncles.
Taxonomy
editThis species was first formally described in 1904 by the Ernst Georg Pritzel who gave it the name Baeckea grandis in Engler's journal Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie in an article by Pritzel and Ludwig Diels entitled Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae occidentalis.[4][5] In 2022, Barbara Lynette Rye transferred the species to Balaustion as B. grande in the journal Nuytsia.[2][6] The specific epithet (grande) is from the Latin grandis meaning 'great, large or tall'.[2][7]
Distribution and habitat
editBalaustion grande grows on sand-plains between Bookara near the Greenough River to Wongan Hills in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.[2][3]
Conservation status
editThis species of Balaustion is listed as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions[3] meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.[8]
References
edit- ^ a b "Balaustion grande". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d Rye, Barbara L. (2022). "An expanded circumscription and revision of the Western Australian genus Balaustion (Myrtaceae: Chamelaucieae: Hysterobaeckeinae)". Nuytsia. 33: 166–170. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
- ^ a b c "Balaustion grande". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ "Baeckea grandis". APNI. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
- ^ Diels, Ludwig; Pritzel, Ernst G. (1904). "Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae occidentalis. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Pflanzen Westaustraliens, ihrer Verbreitung und ihrer Lebensverhaltnisse". Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie. 35 (2–3): 417. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ "Balaustion grande". APNI. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 210. ISBN 9780958034180.
- ^ "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Retrieved 5 December 2024.