Stenanthemum tridentatum
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
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|genus = Stenanthemum
|species = tridentatum
|status_system =
|status =
|authority = (Steud.) Reissek{{cite web |title=Stenanthemum tridentatum |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/66493 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=9 February 2023}}
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Stenanthemum tridentatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a prostrate to upright shrub with sparsely hairy young stems, egg-shaped to fan-shaped leaves, and creamy white or creamy-yellow flowers arranged singly or in groups of up to three.
Description
Stenanthemum tridentatum is a prostrate to upright, intricately-branched shrub that typically grows to a height of up to {{cvt|35|cm}}, its young stems sparsely covered with star-shaped hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, to fan-shaped, {{cvt|2–5|mm}} long and {{cvt|2–3|mm}} wide on a petiole {{cvt|0.5–1|mm}} long, with stipules {{cvt|1.0–1.5|mm}} long and fused at the base. The flowers are creamy white or creamy-yellow and arranged singly, in pairs or three, {{cvt|4–8|mm}} wide, the floral tube about {{cvt|1|mm}} wide. The sepals are {{cvt|0.9–1.1|mm}} long, and the petals {{cvt|0.5–0.6|mm}} long. Flowering occurs in August, and the fruit is a more or less glabrous schizocarp {{cvt|1.8–2.2|mm}} long.{{cite web |title=Stenanthemum tridentatum |last1=Kellerman |first1=Jurgen|last2=Thiele |first2=Kevin R.|editor-last1=Kodela |editor-first1=Phillip G. |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Stenanthemum%20tridentatum |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra |access-date= 9 February 2023}}{{FloraBase|id=13478|name=Stenanthemum tridentatum}}
Taxonomy and naming
This species was first formally described in 1845 by Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel who gave it the name Cryptandra tridentata in Lehmann's Plantae Preissianae.{{cite web|title=Cryptandra tridentata|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/508424|publisher=APNI|access-date=9 February 2023}}{{cite book |last1=von Steudel |first1=Ernst G. |editor-last1=Lehmann |editor-first1=Johann G.C. |title=Plantae Preissianae |volume=1 |date=1845 |publisher=Sumptibus Meissneri |location=Hamburg |page=186 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/9227#page/191/mode/1up |access-date=9 February 2023}} In 1858, Siegfried Reissek transferred it to Stenanthemum as Stenanthemum tridentatus in the journal Linnaea.{{cite web|title=Stenanthemum tridentatum|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/474306|publisher=APNI|access-date=9 February 2023}}
Distribution and habitat
Stenanthemum tridentatum grows in woodland and shrubland between Gunyidi and Tambellup in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest and Mallee bioregions of southwestern Western Australia.
Conservation status
This species is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
References
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Category:Flora of Western Australia