Allocasuarina ramosissima

Allocasuarina ramosissima
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Casuarinaceae
Genus: Allocasuarina
Species:
A. ramosissima
Binomial name
Allocasuarina ramosissima

Allocasuarina ramosissima is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a dioecious shrub with its leaves reduced to overlapping scales in whorls of five, the mature fruiting cones sessile and 9–13 mm (0.35–0.51 in) long, containing winged seeds 4.5–5.0 mm (0.18–0.20 in) long.

Description

Allocasuarina ramosissima is a dioecious, somewhat divaricate shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.3–1.2 m (1 ft 0 in – 3 ft 11 in). Its branchlets are erect 10–60 mm (0.39–2.36 in) long, the leaves reduced to overlapping scale-like teeth 0.6–1.3 mm (0.024–0.051 in) long, arranged in whorls of five around the needle-like branchlets. The sections of branchlet between the leaf whorls are mostly 6–20 mm (0.24–0.79 in) long and 0.6–1 mm (0.024–0.039 in) wide. Male flowers are arranged in spike-like heads 1.5–2.0 mm (0.059–0.079 in) long, the anthers 0.6–0.7 mm (0.024–0.028 in) long. Female cones are sessile, the mature cones 9–13 mm (0.35–0.51 in) long and 7–9 mm (0.28–0.35 in) in diameter, containing dark brown winged seeds 4.5–5.0 mm (0.18–0.20 in) long.[2][3]

Taxonomy

This sheoak was first formally described in 1964 by Charles Gardner who gave it the name Casuarina ramosissima in the Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia from specimens he collected near Dandaragan.[4][5] It was reclassified in 1982 as Allocasuarina ramosissima by Lawrie Johnson in the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.[6] The specific epithet (ramosissima) means "much branched".[7]

Distribution and habitat

Allocasuarina ramosissima grows in heath on sand in the Badgingarra – Dandaragan area in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.[3][2]

References

  1. ^ "Allocasuarina ramosissima". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Allocasuarina ramosissima". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Allocasuarina ramosissima". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  4. ^ "Casuarina ramosissima". APNI. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  5. ^ Gardner, Charles A. (1964). "Contributiones Florae Australiae Occidentalis, XIII". Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia. 47 (2): 54. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Allocasuarina ramosissima". APNI. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  7. ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 291. ISBN 9780958034180.