Cryptandra multispina
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Speciesbox
| image =
| genus = Cryptandra
| species = multispina
| authority = Rye{{cite web |title=Cryptandra multispina |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/195320 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=11 January 2023}}
}}
Cryptandra multispina is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is an erect, compact, spiny shrub that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|10–70|cm}}.{{cite journal |last1=Rye |first1=Barbara L. |title=New species and keys for Cryptandra and Stenanthemum (Rhamnaceae) in Western Australia. |journal=Nuytsia |date=2007 |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=368–370 |url=https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/science/nuytsia/462.pdf |access-date=11 January 2023}}{{FloraBase|name=Cryptandra multispina|id=31614}}
Taxonomy and naming
This species was first formally described in 1863 by George Bentham, who gave it the name Cryptandra scoparia var. microcephala in Flora Australiensis from specimens collected by Augustus Oldfield near the Murchison River.{{cite web|title=Cryptandra scoparia var. microcephala|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/508274|publisher=APNI|accessdate=11 January 2023}} In 2007, Barbara Rye raised the variety to species status as C. multispina, since the name Cryptandra microcephala had already been used for a species now known as Spyridium microcephalum.{{cite web|title=Cryptandra multispina|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/620699|publisher=APNI|accessdate=11 January 2023}} The specific epithet (multispina ) means "many spines".{{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=257 |edition=3rd}}
Distribution
This cryptandra grows in sand or clayey sand over sandstone and limestone on ridges and plains, flats, hills and road verges in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains and Mallee bioregions of south-western Western Australia.
Conservation status
Cryptandra multispina is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
References
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Category:Flora of Western Australia