Astroloma pallidum
| Astroloma pallidum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Astroloma |
| Species: | A. pallidum |
| Binomial name | |
| Astroloma pallidum R.Br. | |
Astroloma pallidum, commonly known as kick bush is usually a small, compact shrub in the heath family Ericaceae. The species is endemic to south-western Western Australia.
Description
Astroloma pallidum is usually a neat, dense, compact shrub but sometimes a diffuse to erect shrub to about 30 cm high. The leaves are lance-shaped, about 1 cm long and with toothed margins. Creamy white to pale yellow (rarely pink or red) tubular flowers are present in the axils of leaves for most of the year.[1][2][3]
Taxonomy and naming
Astroloma pallidum was first described by Robert Brown in 1810 in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae.[4] The specific epithet (pallidum) is a Latin word meaning "pale" or "wan".[5][6]
There is one variety - Astroloma pallidum var. erectum Sond.[7]
Distribution and habitat
Kick bush grows on yellow/grey sand, red/brown laterite gravel, brown clay to sandy clay, ironstone and limestone in a variety of habitats including flats, hillslopes, winter-wet sites and the edges of lakes in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren biogeographical regions of Western Australia.[3]
Cultivation
This species is not known in cultivation, partly because good cutting wood is difficult to obtain.[2]
References
- ↑ Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 234. ISBN 0646402439.
- 1 2 Wrigley, John; Fagg, Murray (1983). Australian native plants : a manual for their propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping (2nd ed.). Sydney: Collins. p. 100. ISBN 0002165759.
- 1 2 Spooner, Amanda. "Astroloma pallidum R.Br. Kick Bush". Retrieved 22 January 2015.
- ↑ "Astroloma pallidum R. Br.". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
- ↑ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 382.
- ↑ Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. London. p. 538. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
- ↑ "Astroloma pallidum var. suberectum Sond.". Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 21 January 2015.