Philotheca myoporoides

Location & distribution maps

Common name:         Long-leaf Wax Flower

Conservation status: ...

Etymology:   

Flowers

• The flowers are arranged singly or in groups of up to eight, in leaf axils on a peduncle up to 20 mm long, each flower on a pedicel 1–10 mm long

• The sepals are broadly triangular, about 1 mm long and 1.5–2 mm wide and the petals are white to pink, about 8 mm long with a prominent keel

• Flowering mainly occurs in spring and autumn 

Fruit:                            

• The fruit is about 7 mm long with a beak about 3 mm long

Leaves:         

• Sessile, oblong to broadly egg-shaped, glandular-warty, papery to leathery

• 15–110 mm long and 4–20 mm wide with a prominent midrib

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A shrub that typically grows to a height of 2 m 

Habitat &  distribution:                  

• Subspecies acuta grows on rocky sandstone hills from Lockhart to near Cobar 

• Subspecies brevipedunculata is found coastal areas to mountain summits between Sassafras and Moruya in south-eastern New South Wales

• Subspecies euroensis grows among granite boulders on the Strathbogie Ranges near Euroa in north-eastern Victoria

• Subspecies myoporoides grows in forest and heathland, usually near watercourses, mostly along the Great Dividing Range from the northern border of New South Wales to near Healesville in Victoria

• Subspecies petraea is only known from rocky areas on Mount Stewart, west of Gelantipy in north-eastern Victoria

Additional notes:    

• Taxonomy

  • This species was first formally described in 1824 by Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle who gave it the name Eriostemon myoporoides in his book Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis

  • In 1998 Michael James Bayly changed the name to Philotheca myoporoides in the journal Muelleria

  • In the same journal, Bayly described nine subspecies, four of which are accepted by the Australian Plant Census, and in 2001, Andrew Rozefelds described a fifth subspecies

  • Philotheca myoporoides subsp. acuta (Blakely) Bayly has oblong-elliptic or egg-shaped leaves 13–30 mm long and 5–10 mm wide

  • Philotheca myoporoides subsp. brevipedunculata Bayly has oblong, elliptic or lance-shaped leaves 40–45 mm long and 2–8 mm wide

  • Philotheca myoporoides subsp. euroensis Bayly has broad elliptic leaves 15–35 mm long and 6–12 mm wide

  • Philotheca myoporoides (DC.) Bayly subsp. myoporoides has oblong-elliptic or lance-shaped leaves 20–50 mm long and 4–10 mm wide

  • Philotheca myoporoides subsp. petraea Rozefelds has leaves 8–16 mm long and 4–7 mm wide

• Ecology

  • Caterpillars of the orchard butterfly feed on this species

• Use in horticulture

  • The species is well adapted to cultivation, and plants are commercially available at nurseries in Australia

  • The species prefers a well-drained position in light shade. Established plants tolerate both dry periods and moderate frost

  • Plants may be propagated from semi-mature cuttings, though some forms are slow to take root

Sources of information:

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