Calytrix watsonii
Calytrix watsonii 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 elliptic or oblong leaves and pale to medium yellow flowers with about 45 to 70 stamens in several rows.
Description
Calytrix watsonii is a shrub that typically grows to up to high and wide. Its leaves are elliptic or oblong, long and wide on a petiole long. There are stipules up to long at the base of the petiole. The flowers are borne on a peduncle long with bracteoles long and fused at the base. The floral tube is long and has five ribs. The five sepals are hairy on the outside, mostly glabrous on the inner surface, long with an awn long. The five petals are pale to medium yellow, long, and there are usually 45 to 70 stamens in several rows,. Flowering occurs from August to November and the fruit is about in diameter with a narrowly oval seed about long and in diameter.
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1896 by Ferdinand von Mueller and Ralph Tate who gave it the name Calycothrix watsonii. In 1931, Charles Austin Gardner transferred the species to Calytrix as C. watsonii. The specific epithet honours Archibald Watson, one of the organisers of the 1891 Elder expedition, funder by Sir Thomas Elder, to the Wiluna area.
Distribution and habitat
Calytrix watsonii is found between Wiluna to Kambalda in the Coolgardie and Murchison bioregions of inland Western Australia, where it often grows on red sand dunes, sometimes on islands in salt lakes.
Conservation status
Calytrix watsonii is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.