Thryptomene johnsonii


Thryptomene johnsonii is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of Western Australia. It is a bushy shrub with rigid branches, egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base and pink flowers with five petals and usually eight stamens.

Description

Thryptomene johnsonii is a bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of up to and has rigid branches. Its leaves are mostly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and about wide on a petiole long. The flowers are usually arranged singly in leaf axils in pairs of up to four near the ends of branchlets, each flower on a peduncle long with egg-shaped bracteoles long. The flowers are in diameter with five broadly egg-shaped sepals and five more or less round, pink petals about long. There are usually eight, irregularly arranged stamens. Flowering has been observed in October.

Taxonomy

Thryptomene johnsonii was first formally described in 1864 by Ferdinand von Mueller in Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae from specimens collected near the Murchison River. The specific epithet honours William Johnson who studied the medicinal properties of the Myrtaceae.

Distribution and habitat

This thryptomene grows in sand on a sandplain slope in the Kalbarri National Park.

Conservation status

Thryptomene johnsonii is classified as "Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.