Calytrix praecipua
Calytrix praecipua is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to inland areas of Western Australia. It is a shrub with decussate leaves and pink to pinkish-white flowers with about 21 to 27 stamens in a single row.
Description
Calytrix praecipua is a glabrous shrub that typically grows to a height of. Its leaves are decussate, lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a petiole long with stipules up to long at the base. The flowers are borne on a narrowly funnel-shaped peduncle long with elliptic lobes long. The floral tube is long and spindle-shaped with ten ribs. The sepals are more or less round to egg-shaped, long and wide with an awn up to long. The petals are pink to pinkish-white, lance-shaped to narrowly elliptic, long and wide, and there are about 21 to 27 stamens in a single row. Flowering occurs in June.
Taxonomy
Calytrix praecipua was first formally described in 1987 by Lyndley Craven in the journal Brunonia from specimens he collected east of Laverton. The specific epithet means 'especial' or 'extraordinary', referring to the "significance of this species in interpreting the evolution of the gynoecium in Calytrix".
Distribution and habitat
This species of Calytrix grows on breakaways and among outcrops in a scattered area around Laverton in the Gascoyne, Great Victoria Desert, Little Sandy Desert and Murchison bioregions of inland Western Australia.
Conservation status
Calytrix praecipua is listed as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.