Baeckea

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}

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| image = Weeping Baeckea flowers (11878114085).jpg

| image_caption = Baeckea linifolia

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| taxon = Baeckea

| authority = L.{{cite web|title=Baeckea|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/103594|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=8 January 2022}}

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Baeckea is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, all but one endemic to Australia. Plants in the genus Baeckea are shrubs or small trees with leaves arranged in opposite pairs, white to deep pink flowers with five sepals and five petals, and five to fifteen stamens that are shorter than the petals.

Description

Plants in the genus Baeckea are glabrous shrubs, sometimes small trees, usually with the leaves arranged in opposite pairs or decussate. The flowers are usually arranged singly in leaf axils on a pedicel with two bracteoles at the base but that sometimes fall off as the flower opens. There are five sepals and five white to deep pink , more or less round petals that are free from each other. Five to fifteen stamens are arranged in a single row and are shorter that the petals and open by parallel slits. The fruit is a capsule containing many seeds.{{cite journal |last1=Bean |first1=Anthony R. |title=A revision of Baeckea (Myrtaceae) in eastern Australia, Malesia and south-east Asia |journal=Telopea |date=1997 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=247 |doi=10.7751/telopea19971018 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/57839586#page/75/mode/1up |access-date=8 January 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Jeanes |first1=Jeff |last2=Walsh |first2=Neville G. |title=Baeckea |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/0c71b014-63c5-4328-bf6c-79b9efaf486b |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |access-date=8 January 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=Peter G. |title=Genus Baeckea |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&showsyn=&dist=&constat=&lvl=gn&name=Baeckea |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=8 January 2022}}{{FloraBase|name=Baeckea|id=21811}}[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=103344 Baeckia.] Flora of China.

Distribution and habitat

Species in the genus Baeckea are endemic to Australia, apart from B. frutescens that also occurs in Malesia.{{cite web |title=Baeckea |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/results?f=accepted_names&q=Baeckea |access-date=4 December 2024 |publisher=Plants of the World Online}}

Taxonomy

The genus Baeckea was first formally described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum.{{cite web|title=Baeckea|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/532190|publisher=APNI|access-date=8 January 2022}}{{cite book |last1=Linnaeus |first1=Carl |title=Species Plantarum |date=1753 |location=Berlin |page=358 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/84235#page/372/mode/1up |access-date=8 January 2022}} The genus is named in honor of the Swedish physician Abraham Bäck (or Baeck) (1713–1795).Genaust, H. (1976). Etymologisches Wörterbuch der botanischen Pflanzennamen {{ISBN|3-7643-0755-2}}{{cite book |last1=Sharr |first1=Francis Aubi |last2=George |first2=Alex |title=Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, WA |isbn=9780958034180 |page=63 |edition=3rd}}

Many species formerly placed in the genus are currently included in the genera Balaustion, Euryomyrtus, Harmogia, Kardomia, Oxymyrrhine, Rinzia, Sannantha, Seorsus and Triplarina.

The closest genera to Baeckea are the fleshy-fruited Myrcianthes and Acmena, and the dry-fruited Angophora and Backhousia.{{Cite journal|last1=Conti|first1=Elena|last2=Litt|first2=Amy|last3=Wilson|first3=Peter G.|last4=Graham|first4=Shirley A.|last5=Briggs|first5=Barbara G.|last6=Johnson|first6=L. A. S.|last7=Sytsma|first7=Kenneth J.|date=1997|title=Interfamilial Relationships in Myrtales: Molecular Phylogeny and Patterns of Morphological Evolution|journal=Systematic Botany|volume=22|issue=4|pages=629|doi=10.2307/2419432|issn=0363-6445|jstor=2419432}}

= Species =

The following species are recognised in the genus Baeckea:

References

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Category:Myrtaceae genera

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus