Homoranthus papillatus

Location & distribution maps

Common name:         Mouse Bush

• The common name "mouse bush" is due to the strong odour the plant emits, that of the smell of mice

Conservation status: Vulnerable

• This homoranthus is a rare species with a highly restricted distribution and low population number

•  It has been given ROTAP conservation code 2VC-t. IUCN (2010) considered "vulnerable"

Etymology:   

• Homoranthus is derived from the Ancient Greek words homos meaning "same", "uniform", "like" or "similar"  and anthos meaning "flower"

• The specific epithet (papillatus) is a Latin word meaning "budlike"

Flowers:                  

• The flowers are borne singly in upper leaf axils, light lemon-yellow

• Calyx tube is 4 mm long, 1 mm in diameter, smooth, ribbed, five orbicular petals about 1 mm in diameter

• It has a protruding style 6–9 mm long, pedicel 1–2 mm long

• The bracts are 5 mm long, dry and fall off when the flower opens

• Flowering occurs from September to November

Fruit:                         

• The dry fruit forms September to December

Leaves:         

• The leaves are arranged opposite on a short petiole, linear, curved, about 10 mm long with dense warty protuberances on the surface

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A small, prostrate, spreading shrub to 1 m high

Habitat:   

• Heath on skeletal sandy soils among crevices of granite outcrops

Distribution:                  

•   Endemic to Mount Norman in Girraween National Park, Queensland

Additional notes:   

• Taxonomy 

  • Homoranthus papillatus was first formally described in 1981 by Norman Byrnes from a specimen collected in Girraween National Park in 1976 and the description was published in Austrobaileya

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homoranthus_papillatus (2024)