Micrantheum hexandrum
{{Short description|Species of shrub}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Micrantheum hexandrum.jpg
| image_caption = Micrantheum hexandrum
Mount Buffalo National Park, Victoria
| genus = Micrantheum
| species = hexandrum
| authority = Hook.f.{{cite web |title=Micrantheum hexandrum |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/56844 |website=Australian Plant Census |accessdate=15 September 2023}}
|synonyms =
- Caletia hexandra (Hook.f.) Müll.Arg.
- Caletia micrantheoides Baill. nom. illeg., nom. superfl.
- Micranthea hexandra F.Muell. orth. var.
- Micranthemum hexandrum Hook.f. orth. var.
- Micrantheum boroniaceum F.Muell.
- Phyllanthus boroniacus Grüning nom. inval., pro syn.
}}
Micrantheum hexandrum, commonly known as box micrantheum,{{cite web |last1=Jeanes |first1=Jeff A. |last2=Stajsic |first2=Val |title=Micrantheum hexandrum |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/422eb8ac-73e6-45db-be87-336722f33af6 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |access-date=15 September 2023}} is a species of flowering plant in the family Picrodendraceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an erect, monoecious shrub with oblong to narrowly lance-shaped leaves, and small white flowers with six or nine stamens. Picrodendraceae.
Description
Micrantheum hexandrum is an erect, monoecious, more or less glabrous shrub that typically grows to a height of about {{cvt|2|m}}. The leaves are oblong to narrowly lance-shaped or lance-shaped, with the narrower end towards the base, {{cvt|8–15|mm}} long and {{cvt|2–3|mm}} wide with a small point on the tip. Male flowers are borne on a peduncle about {{cvt|8|mm}} long, the sepals egg-shaped and {{cvt|1–3|mm}} long, and have six or nine stamens. Female flowers are more or less sessile, the sepals lance-shaped to egg-shaped and {{cvt|3–5|mm}} long. Flowering mostly occurs from October to February, and the fruit is an oval to spherical capsule {{cvt|6–7|mm}} long.{{cite web |last1=James |first1=Teresa A. |last2=Harden |first2=Gwen J. |title=Micrantheum hexandrum |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Micrantheum~hexandrum |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=15 September 2023}}{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=Les |title=Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney |date=1991 |publisher=Kangaroo Press |location=Kenthurst, N.S.W. |isbn=0864171927 |page=167}}{{cite book |last1=Fairley |first1=Alan |last2=Moore |first2=Philip |title=Native Plants of the Sydney Region |date=2010 |publisher=Jacana Books |location=Crows Nest, N.S.W. |isbn=9781741755718 |page=118}}
Taxonomy
Micrantheum hexandrum was first formally described in 1847 by Joseph Dalton Hooker in the London Journal of Botany from specimens collected near Launceston.{{cite web|title=Micrantheum hexandrum|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/459664 |publisher=APNI|accessdate=15 September 2023}}{{cite journal |last1=Hooker |first1=Joseph D. |title=Florae Tasmaniae Spicilegium: or, Contributions towards a Flora of Van Diemen's Land. |journal=London Journal of Botany |date=1847 |volume=6 |pages=283–284 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/6317#page/285/mode/1up |access-date=15 September 2023}} The specific epithet (hexandrum) means "six stamens".{{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=217 |edition=3rd}}
Distribution and habitat
Box micrantheum grows on rocky sites and near watercourses, often at higher altitudes, from south-eastern Queensland, along the coast and tablelands of New South Wales to scattered places in eastern Victoria and to eastern Tasmania.{{cite web |last1=Jordan |first1=Greg |title=Micrantheum hexandrum |url=https://www.utas.edu.au/dicotkey/dicotkey/EUPHORBS/sMicrantheum_hexandrum.htm |publisher=University of Tasmania |access-date=15 September 2023}}