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

  1. Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 234. ISBN 0646402439.
  2. 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.
  3. 1 2 Spooner, Amanda. "Astroloma pallidum R.Br. Kick Bush". Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  4. "Astroloma pallidum R. Br.". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  5. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 382.
  6. Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. London. p. 538. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  7. "Astroloma pallidum var. suberectum Sond.". Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
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