Phebalium whitei

Location & distribution maps

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Eudicots > Rosids  > Malvids > Sapindales > Rutaceae > Phebalium whitei

Other links:     

Common name:         ...

Conservation status: Vulnerable

• Phebalium whitei is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992

• The main threats to the species are inappropriate fire regimes and increasing visitor pressure in Girraween National Park

Etymology:   

• The specific epithet is in honour of C.T. White

Flowers

• The flowers are arranged in sessile umbels of up to six flowers, each on a thick pedicel 2–4 mm long

• The calyx is hemispherical, about 2.5 mm high, 3.5 mm wide and covered with silvery and rust-coloured scales

• The petals are bright yellow, elliptic to egg-shaped, about 9 mm long and 3 mm wide with silvery and rust-coloured scales on the back

• Flowering occurs from June to September

Fruit:                            

Leaves:         

• Leathery, oblong to elliptic, 10–70 mm long and about 15 mm wide on a petiole 3–6 mm long

• The leaves are oval in outline

• The upper surface is smooth and glabrous and the lower surface covered with silvery scales

Stem & branches: 

• It has silvery to rust-coloured scales on its branchlets

Roots:         

Habit:        

• Phebalium whitei is a shrub that typically grows to a height of about 1 m a

Habitat:   

• It is found in damp areas such as in cracks in flat expanses of granite or along creek banks

• Sometimes also in open heathland

Distribution:                  

• This phebalium occurs in the Stanthorpe region of south-east Queensland

Additional notes:   

• Taxonomy

  • This phebalium was originally described in 1939 as Phebalium squamulosum var. grandiflorum by Cyril Tenison White

  • The type specimen was obtained from Wyberba in 1932

  • In 1970 Paul Wilson raised the variety to species status in the journal Nuytsia and gave it the name Phebalium whitei in honour of C.T. White

• Cultural references

  • Phebalium whitei was depicted on an Australia Post postage stamp issued in February 2007 depicting the species

Sources of information:

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