• Source: Baeckea pygmaea

Baeckea pygmaea is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a slender and erect or spreading shrub with narrowly egg-shaped to almost linear leaves and small white flowers with 12 to 25 stamens.




Description


Baeckea pygmaea is a shrub, typically 10–50 cm (3.9–19.7 in) high and 60–100 cm (24–39 in) wide. Its leaves are narrowly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 3.5–8 mm (0.14–0.31 in) long, 0.5–1.1 mm (0.020–0.043 in) wide and 0.4–0.7 mm (0.016–0.028 in) thick on a petiole 0.2–0.4 mm (0.0079–0.0157 in) long. The flowers are 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) in diameter and are borne in groups of up to three on peduncles 4–11 mm (0.16–0.43 in) long. The sepals are broadly triangular, 0.4–0.8 mm (0.016–0.031 in) long and the petals are white, 1.2–1.8 mm (0.047–0.071 in) long. There are 12 to 25 stamens, the ovary usually has two locules and the style is 0.7–0.8 mm (0.028–0.031 in) long. Flowering occurs from December to March and the fruit is a capsule 1.3–1.5 mm (0.051–0.059 in) long.




Taxonomy


Baeckea pygmaea was first formally described in 1867 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis from an unpublished manuscript by Robert Brown who collected the type specimens from King George Sound. The specific epithet (pygmaea) means "dwarf".
In 2021, Barbara Lynette Rye changed the name to Austrobaeckea pygmaea, but the name has not yet been accepted by the Australian Plant Census.




Distribution and habitat


This baeckea is found on flats and winter-wet swamps, from near Lake Muir to near Albany in the Jarrah Forest and Warren biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.




Conservation status


Baeckea pygmaea is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.




See also


List of Baeckea species




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Baeckea
• Baeckea pygmaea
• Baeckea
• Austrobaeckea
• Alpine vegetation of Tasmania
• List of threatened flora of Australia