Spyridium thymifolium
{{Short description|Species of shrub}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Speciesbox
|name =
|image = Spyridium thymifolium.jpg
|image_caption = In the Australian National Botanic Gardens
|genus = Spyridium
|species = thymifolium
|authority = Reissek{{cite web |title=Spyridium thymifolium |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/55321 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=14 November 2022}}
|synonyms =
- Spyridium coactilifolium var. integrifolium Benth.
- Spyridium stuarti Reissek orth. var.
- Spyridium stuartii Reissek
- Trymalium stuarti Reissek nom. inval., pro syn.
- Cryptandra obovata auct. non (Hook.) Hook.f. in Tate, R. (1890)
}}
Spyridium thymifolium, commonly known as thyme-leaved spyridium,{{cite web |title=Spyridium thymifolium |url=http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/cgi-bin/speciesfacts_display.cgi?form=speciesfacts&name=Spyridium_thymifolium |publisher=State Herbarium of South Australia |access-date=14 November 2022}} is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to the south-east of South Australia. It is a small shrub with egg-shaped to almost round leaves, and heads of woolly-hairy flowers.
Description
Spyridium thymifolium is a shrub that typically grows to a height of about {{cvt|50|cm}} and has slender branchlets covered with white or rust-coloured, woolly hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped to almost round, {{cvt|7–20|mm}} long and {{cvt|4–15|mm}} wide with brownish-black stipules at the base. The upper surface of the leaves is glabrous and the lower surface covered with greyish, woolly hairs. The heads of "flowers" are {{cvt|4–9|mm}} in diameter and woolly-hairy surrounded by 2 to 3 more or less round, white, velvety floral leaves and with dark brown bracts at the base. Flowering occurs from September to February.
Taxonomy
Spyridium thymifolium was first formally described in 1858 by Siegfried Reissek in the journal Linnaea from specimens collected by Ferdinand von Mueller, near Encounter Bay in 1847.{{cite web |title=Spyridium thymifolium |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/457434 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=14 November 2022}}{{cite journal |last1=Reissek |first1=Siegfried |title=Plantae Muellerianae Australasicae - Celastrineae, Rhamneae. |journal=Linnaea: ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange, oder Beiträge zur Pflanzenkunde |date=1858 |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=289–290 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/10873#page/294/mode/1up |access-date=14 November 2022}} The specific epithet (thymifolium) means "thyme-leaved".{{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=324 |edition=3rd}}
Distribution
Spyridium thymifolium occurs in the Southern Lofty and Kangaroo Island botanical regions of south-eastern South Australia.