Micrantheum

Location & distribution maps

Common name:         . . .

Conservation status: . . .

Etymology:   

Flowers

• The flowers are arranged singly or in small groups in leaf axils with bracts at the base

• There are four or six sepal lobes

• The petals are often absent

• Male flowers are on a short peduncle and have three, six or nine stamens

• Female flowers have an ovary with two or three cells with two ovules per cell, and two or three styles

Fruit:                            

• A capsule containing seeds with a caruncle

Leaves:         

• The leaves usually arranged in groups of three, sometimes in groups of two, four or five

• The leaves are simple and leathery

• The groups of leaves are arranged alternately along the branches on a short petiole with tiny stipules at the base

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• Plants are heath-like, monoecious shrubs with many branches

Habitat:   

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to Australia

Additional notes:     

• Micrantheum is a genus of four species of flowering plants in the family Picrodendraceae 

• Taxonomy

  • The genus Micrantheum was first formally described in 1818 by René Louiche Desfontaines in Mémoires du Muséum d'histoire naturelle

  • Tthe first species he described (the type species) was Micrantheum ericoides

• Species list

  • The following is a list of species of Micrantheum, accepted by the Australian Plant Census as of September 2023:

    • Micrantheum demissum F.Muell. - South Australia

    • Micrantheum ericoides Desf. - New South Wales, Queensland

    • Micrantheum hexandrum Hook.f. - box micrantheum - New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania

    • Micrantheum serpentinum Orchard - western tridentbush - Tasmania

Sources of information:

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