Cryptandra apetala
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
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|genus = Cryptandra
|species = apetala
|authority = Ewart & Jean White{{cite web |title=Cryptandra apetala |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/87254 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=24 August 2022}}
|synonyms_ref =
|synonyms =
}}
Cryptandra apetala is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with tufted, linear to lance-shaped leaves, and urn-shaped white to creamy-white and pink flowers arranged on short side shoots.
Description
Cryptandra apetala is a woody shrub that typically grows to a height of up to {{cvt|15–50|cm}}. The leaves are arranged in tufts, linear to lance-shaped with the edges rolled under, so that the leaves appear cylindrical. The flowers are white to creamy-white and pink, arranged in clusters of 2 to 8 on short side shoots. The bracts are brown and shorter than the sepals lobes. The sepals are about {{cvt|2|mm}} long and joined at the base to form an urn-shaped tube, the tube and sepals lobes densely covered with soft hairs. There are no petals but the stamens have relatively large anthers. Flowering occurs from August to October.{{FloraBase|name=Cryptandra apetala|id=4791}}{{cite journal |last1=Ewart |first1=Alfred J. |last2=White-Haney |first2=Jean |title=Contributions to the Flora of Australia No. 12. |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria |date=1909 |volume=22 |issue=1 |page=93 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/34822#page/141/mode/1up |access-date=25 August 2022}}{{cite journal |last1=Rye |first1=Barbara L. |title=New and priority taxa in the genera Cryptandra and Stenanthemum (Rhamnaceae) of Western Australia. |journal=Nuytsia |date=1995 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=256–259 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/225398#page/120/mode/1up |access-date=25 August 2022}}
Taxonomy
Cryptandra apetala was first formally described in 1909 by Alfred James Ewart and Jean White-Haney in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria from specimens collected near Cowcowing by Max Koch.{{cite web|title=Cryptandra apetala|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/507265|publisher=APNI|accessdate=24 August 2022}} The specific epithet (apetala) means "without petals".{{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 |edition=3rd|page=134}}
In 1995, Barbara Lynette Rye described two varieties of C. apetala in the journal Nuytsia, and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
- Cryptandra apetala var. anomala Rye{{cite web |title=Cryptandra apetala var. anomala |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/161310 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=25 August 2022}}
- Cryptandra apetala Rye var. apetala{{cite web |title=Cryptandra apetala var. apetala |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/170390 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=25 August 2022}}
Distribution and habitat
This cryptandra grows on sandy soil in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Geraldton Sandplains, Mallee and Yalgoo bioregions of south-western Western Australia.
Conservation status
Both varieties of C. apetala are listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q15537825|from2=Q51045529|from3=Q100450935}}
Category:Flora of Western Australia