Thryptomene saxicola

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Eudicots > Rosids > Malvids >  Myrtaceae >Myrtaceae > Thryptomene saxicola

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:                Rock Thryptomene 

Conservation status:    ...

Etymology:   

• The specific epithet (saxicola) means "rock-dweller"

Flowers:                  

• The flowers are pale pink to white with five sepals, five more or less circular petals and 10 stamens

•  Flowering mainly occurs from February to November, but flowers are often present in most months[

Fruit:                         

Leaves:         

•  It has oval to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base and 5–10 mm long

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• It is a spreading shrub with small oval or egg-shaped leaves and pale pink flowers arranged in leaf axils

• It is hardy plant and typically grows to a height of 0.3–1.5 m

Habitat:   

Distribution:                  

•  Endemic to south-western Western Australia

• It grows on granite outcrops and on hills in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Warren biogeographic regions

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • This species was first formally described in 1832 by Joseph Dalton Hooker in the Botanical Magazine and given the name Baeckea saxicola from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham

  •  In 1844, Johannes Conrad Schauer changed the name to Thryptomene saxicola in the journal Plantae Preissianae

• Use in horticulture

  • It is common in cultivation, sometimes as "Payne's hybrid" or Thryptomene paynei

  • It has been widely grown in gardens in most parts of Australia and overseas as well

  • It is a hardy plant in well-drained soil and is moderately frost-tolerant

  • Propagation is usually by cuttings

• Cultivars include:

  • F.C. Payne' ('paynei') - similar to the typical form, introduced to cultivation in the 1960s or before.

  • 'Minginew' - mauve-pink flowers; it has recently been hypothesized that this may be a form of Thryptomene hyporhytis or an unnamed species

  • 'Pink Lace'- deeper pink flowers, compact form

  • 'Seatonii'

  • 'Supernova'- pale pink flowers

Sources of information:

• (2023)