Nematolepis ovatifolia 

Location & distribution maps

Common name:         ...

Conservation status: ...

Etymology:   

• The name is derived from the Greek words nematos 'thread', lepsis 'scale' and the Latin word squameus 'scaly' referring to the scales on the leaves, stems and stamens

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Flowers

• The inflorescences are a small, tight cluster of 1-3 white flowers, petals about 4 mm long, pink in bud, dotted with glands, individual flowers and cluster stems thick, flattened and together 2–4 mm long

• The bracts oblong to egg-shaped, 1–1.5 mm long, sepals almost upright, triangular shape and 2 mm long

• The dry, erect' seed capsule is more or less square, about 3 mm long with a short rounded point

• Flowering occurs in summer

Fruit:                            

Leaves:         

• The leaves are wide egg-shaped to broadly elliptic, 0.9–1.2 cm long, 5–10 mm wide

• Margins are mostly flat, upper surface dotted with glands, underside silvery scales

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A small, dense shrub with more or less angled to terete stems covered in light rust coloured scales and sparsely dotted with warty glands

Habitat:   

• Low woodland on granite ridges in the alpine regions

Distribution:                  

• Kosciuszko National Park

Additional notes:  

• Taxonomy

  • This species was first formally described by Ferdinand von Mueller in 1855 and gave it the name Phebalium ovatifolium and the description published in Definitions of rare or hitherto undescribed Australian plants

  • In 1998, Paul G. Wilson changed the name to Nematolepis ovatifolia in the journal Nuytsia

Sources of information:

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