Stenanthera
{{Short description|Genus of plants}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Astroloma pinifolium.jpg
| image_caption = Stenanthera pinifolia in Maranoa Gardens
| taxon = Stenanthera
| authority =R.Br{{cite web |title=Stenanthera |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/66528|website=Australian Plant Census |accessdate=15 January 2020}}
| type_species = Stenanthera pinifolia
| synonyms =
}}
Stenanthera is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. Most are low shrubs with leaves that are paler on the lower surface, tube-shaped flowers and with the fruit a drupe. There are three species, formerly included in the genus Astroloma.
Description
Plants in the genus Stenanthera are mainly low shrubs with leaves that are paler on the lower surface where the veins are almost parallel to palmate. The flowers are borne in leaf axils and have both male and female organs. There are bracts and bracteoles and the base of the flower and the petals are joined to form a more or less cylindrical tube. The petal lobes are triangular to egg-shaped and erect or turned backwards, usually with hairs on the inner side. The anthers protrude from the petal tube but are hidden by the petal lobes. The style is thread-like and equal in length to, or longer than the petal tube. The fruit is a drupe with a hard endocarp.{{cite web |last1=Messina |first1=Andre |title=Stenanthera |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/49312196-d0b2-4e0b-80ae-5745ff126f6f |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Victoria |accessdate=18 March 2020}}
Taxonomy and naming
The genus Stenanthera was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen. The type species is S. pinifolia.{{cite web|title=Stenanthera|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/474371|publisher=APNI|accessdate=18 March 2020}}{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Robert |title=Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis 1802-1805 |date=1810 |publisher=R. Taylor et socii |location=London |page=538 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21871#page/406/mode/1up |accessdate=18 March 2020}} In 1868, George Bentham transferred the genus to Astroloma as Astroloma sect. Stenanthera in Flora Australiensis{{cite web|title=Astroloma sect. Stenanthera|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/474371|publisher=APNI|accessdate=18 March 2020}}{{cite book |last1=Bentham |first1=George |last2=von Mueller |first2=Ferdinand |title=Flora Australiensis (Volume 4) |date=1868 |volume=v. 4 |publisher=Lovell Reeve & Co. |location=London |pages=152, 158 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/42070#page/162/mode/1up |accessdate=18 March 2020}} but following genetic studies in 2013, the genus Stenanthera was resurrected.{{cite web |title=Stenanthera pinifolia |url=http://anpsa.org.au/a-pin.html |publisher=Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) |accessdate=18 March 2020}} The name of the genus comes from ancient Greek words meaning "narrow" and "flower".{{cite book |author=Francis Aubie Sharr |author-link=Francis Aubie Sharr |title=Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, Western Australia |isbn=9780958034180 |page=115}}
Species list
The following species names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census as at January 2020:
- Stenanthera conostephioides Sonder (flame heath) - South Australia, Victoria{{cite web |title=Stenanthera conostephioides |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/66567|website=Australian Plant Census |accessdate=15 January 2020}}
- Stenanthera pinifolia R.Br (pine heath) – New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania{{cite web |title=Stenanthera pinifolia |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/66618|website=Australian Plant Census |accessdate=15 January 2020}}
- Stenanthera pungens (Keighery) Hislop – Western Australia{{cite web |title=Stenanthera pungens |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/8245340|website=Australian Plant Census |accessdate=15 January 2020}}
Distribution
Stenanthera species are found south-western Western Australia{{cite web|title=Brachyloma geissoloma (F.Muell.) Cranfield|url=http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:apni.taxon:697535|publisher=Atlas of Living Australia|accessdate=13 January 2015}}{{cite web|title=Astroloma R.Br.Cranberry Heath|url=http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:apni.taxon:695873|publisher=Atlas of Living Australia|accessdate=13 January 2015}} and in south-eastern Australia.{{cite web|title=Astroloma conostephioides|url=http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/cgi-bin/speciesfacts_display.cgi?form=speciesfacts&name=Astroloma_conostephioides|publisher=Electronic Flora of South Australia|accessdate=13 January 2015}}{{cite web|title=New South Wales Flora online|last1=Powell|first1=J.M.|date=1992|url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Astroloma~pinifolium|publisher=National Herbarium of NSW|accessdate=13 January 2015}}
Use in horticulture
Stenantheras are difficult to grow and maintain in a garden but S. pinifolia can be propagated from cuttings and grown in well-drained soil in a semi-shaded position.