Austrobaeckea pygmaea
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2017}}
{{Speciesbox
| image =
| genus = Austrobaeckea
| species = pygmaea
| authority = (R.Br. ex Benth.) Rye{{cite web |title=Austrobaeckea pygmaea |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77295770-1#synonyms |publisher=Plants of the World Online |access-date=6 December 2024}}
| synonyms = Baeckea pygmaea R.Br. ex Benth.
}}
Austrobaeckea pygmaea is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a slender and erect or spreading shrub with narrowly egg-shaped to almost linear leaves and small white flowers with 12 to 25 stamens.
Description
Austrobaeckea pygmaea is a shrub, typically {{cvt|10–50|cm}} high and {{cvt|60–100|cm}} wide. Its leaves are narrowly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, {{cvt|3.5–8|mm}} long, {{cvt|0.5–1.1|mm}} wide and {{cvt|0.4–0.7|mm}} thick on a petiole {{cvt|0.2–0.4|mm}} long. The flowers are {{cvt|3–5|mm}} in diameter and are borne in groups of up to three on peduncles {{cvt|4–11|mm}} long. The sepals are broadly triangular, {{cvt|0.4–0.8|mm}} long and the petals are white, {{cvt|1.,2–1.8|mm}} long. There are 12 to 25 stamens, the ovary usually has two locules and the style is {{cvt|0.7–0.8|mm}} long. Flowering occurs from December to March and the fruit is a capsule {{cvt|1.3–1.5|mm}} long.{{cite journal |last1=Rye |first1=Barbara L. |title=Austrobaeckea, a new south-western Australian genus of Myrtaceae (Chamelaucieae: Hysterobaeckeinae) |journal=Nuytsia |date=2021 |volume=32 |pages=190–192 |url=https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/science/nuytsia/1013.pdf |access-date=8 February 2022}}{{FloraBase | name = Austrobaeckea pygmaea| id = 50757}}
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1867 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis who gave it the name Baeckea pygmaea from an unpublished manuscript by Robert Brown who collected the type specimens from King George Sound.{{cite web|title=Baeckea pygmaea|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/534158|publisher=APNI|access-date=5 December 2024}}{{cite book |last1=Bentham |first1=George |last2=von Mueller |first2=Ferdinand |title=Flora Australiensis |date=1867 |publisher=Lovell Reeve & Co. |location=London |pages=86–87 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/41807#page/94/mode/1up |access-date=8 February 2022}} In 2021, Barbara Lynette Rye transferred the species to Austrobaeckea as A. pygmaea in the journal Nuytsia.{{cite web|title=Austrobaeckea pygmaea|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/51631187|publisher=APNI|access-date=5 December 2024}} The specific epithet (pygmaea) means "dwarf".
Distribution and habitat
Austrobaeckea pygmaea is found on flats and winter-wet swamps, from near Lake Muir to near Albany in the Jarrah Forest and Warren biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.
Conservation status
Austrobaeckea pygmaea is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Endemic flora of Southwest Australia