Homoranthus prolixus

Location & distribution maps

Plant  information

Common name:         Granite Homoranthus

Conservation status: Vulnerable

• This homoranthus is considered vulnerable by Briggs and Leigh (1996), but now known to be well reserved and often locally abundant

• The Rare or Threatened Australian Plants conservation code of 3RCa is considered more appropriate

Etymology:   

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

• The specific epithet (prolixus) is a Latin word meaning "stretched out" or "long"

Flowers:                  

• Groups of 1-6 yellow to red flowers are borne on upper branches, about 5 mm long

• These are in the leaf axils

• Petals are broadly egg-shaped, 0.8–1.5 mm long

• Floral tube is  five ribbed, smooth, 3–4 mm long

• Style is 8–10 mm long

• The peduncle is 1–2 mm long

• Flowering occurs from September to December 

Fruit:                         

• Fruits are from September to January

Leaves:         

• The dull, blue-green leaves have a whitish bloom

• They are decussate, linear to oblong-lance shaped

• 3–6 mm long, 0.5–1 mm wide

• The upper surface flat or occasionally concave

• They are more or less smooth and gradually tapering to a point on a petiole 0.5 mm long

Stem & branches: 

• Branches that arch upwards at the apex

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A spreading shrub to 0.8 m high with a mostly ascending growth habit

Habitat:   

• Woodland and heath on shallow sandy soils on and around granite or acid volcanic outcrops

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to northern NSW

• It grows from Inverell to Bendemeer in northern NSW

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • A flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae 

  • Homoranthus prolixus was first formally described in 1991 by Lyndley Craven and S.R.Jones and the description was published in Australian Systematic Botany

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homoranthus_prolixus (2023)