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Jam tarts
	In the ANBG
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Melichrus
Species:	M. procumbens
Binomial name
	Melichrus procumbens; (Cav.) Druce

Melichrus procumbens, commonly known as jam tarts,^[2] is a flowering plant in the family Ericaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a low-lying shrub, often forming mats, with hairy, lance-shaped leaves, fragrant, cream-coloured flowers and flattened spherical, green to red drupes.

Description

Melichrus procumbens is a low-lying shrub that sometimes forms mats or grows to a height of 20 cm (8 in). Its leaves are erect or pressed against the stem near the ends of branches or spreading lower down, 11–28 mm (0.43–1.10 in) long and 1.2–4.0 mm (0.05–0.16 in) wide on a petiole 0.5 mm (0.02 in) wide, with 10 to 14 ribs on the lower surface. The flowers are borne on the underside of branches, cream-coloured to pale green with a pink tinge. The bracteoles are 3.0–5.5 mm (0.12–0.22 in) long and the sepals are 5.0–7.5 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long and greenish with silky hairs. The petals form a saucer-shaped tube 2.0–2.5 mm (0.08–0.10 in) long with spreading lobes 3.0–3.5 mm (0.12–0.14 in) long. Flowering occurs from February to July to September, and the fruit is a green to red, smooth, flattened spherical drupe 2–4 mm (0.08–0.16 in) long .^[2]^[3]

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1797 by Antonio José Cavanilles who gave it the name Ventenatia procumbens in his Icones et Descriptiones Plantarum from specimens collected at Port Jackson.^[4]^[5] In 1917, George Claridge Druce transferred the species to Melichrus as M. procumbens in a supplement to The Botanical Exchange Club and Society of the British Isles Report for 1916.^[6]^[7]

Distribution and habitat

Jam tarts grows in heath and forest on sandstone or granite from south-eastern Queensland to the coast and Hornsby Plateau near Sydney.^[2]^[8]^[9]

Ecology

The flowers of Melichrus procumbens face downwards, close to the ground, suggesting pollination by ground-crawling insects such as ants.^[8]^[10] The common name (jam tarts) comes from the peculiar shape of the open flower and the large amount of nectar present.^[9]

Conservation status

Melichrus procumbens is listed as of Least Concern under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992.^[11]

References

^ "Melichrus procumbens". Australian Plant Census. Archived from the original on 7 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Powell, Jocelyn M. "Melichrus procumbens". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Archived from the original on 7 September 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
^ "Melichrus procumbens". Australian Native Plants Society (Australia). Archived from the original on 8 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
^ "Ventenatia procumbens". APNI. Archived from the original on 7 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
^ Cavanilles, Antonia J. (1797). Icones et Descriptiones Plantarum. Vol. 4. pp. 28–29. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
^ "Melichrus procumbens". APNI. Archived from the original on 7 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
^ Druce, George C. (1917). "Nomenclatorial Notes: chiefly African and Australian". The Botanical Exchange Club and Society of the British Isles Report for 1916. 4: 635. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
^ ^a ^b Fairley, Alan; Moore, Philip (1989). Native Plants of the Sydney District. Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press. p. 88.
^ ^a ^b Benson, Doug; McDougall, Lyn (1995). "Ecology of Sydney Plants 3: families Cabombaceae to Eupomatiaceae". Cunninghamia. 4 (2): 379. Archived from the original on 6 August 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
^ Robinson, Les (1991). Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney. Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press. p. 111.
^ "Species profile—Melichrus procumbens (jam tarts)". Queensland Government, Department of Education and Science. Retrieved 4 December 2024.