Conostephium minus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Conostephium
Species:
C. minus
Binomial name
Conostephium minus
Synonyms[1]

Conostephiopsis minor Stschegl.
Conostephium nitens Lindl. ex B.D.Jacks.
Conostephium pendulum Deless.
Styphelia lindleyi F.Muell.

Habit near Cataby

Conostephium minus, common name pink-tipped pearl flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae[2] and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with linear leaves and white and purplish-pink flowers.

Description

Conostephium minus is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of 15–75 cm (5.9–29.5 in). Its leaves are linear, 13–19 mm (0.51–0.75 in) long with the edges rolled under and a small point on the tip. The flowers are about 8.5 mm (0.33 in) long, each flower on a peduncle about 2 mm (0.079 in) long with several bracts and bracteoles almost as long as the sepals. The sepals are white, the longest ones 5.6–7.2 mm (0.22–0.28 in) long and the petals purplish-pink and joined at the base with lobes 0.3–1 mm (0.012–0.039 in) long. The upper half of the ovary is softly-hairy, the stamens attached near the middle of the petal tube. Flowering occurs from August to October.[2][3][4]

This species is similar to C. magnum, but that species has longer sepals and longer petal lobes.[3]

Taxonomy and naming

Conostephium minus was first formally described and named by John Lindley in 1839 in A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony.[5][6] The specific epithet, minus, is a Latin adjective meaning "small".[7]

Distribution and habitat

Pink-tipped pearl flower grows on undulating sandplains on white/grey or yellow sands, between Regans Ford and Serpentine with an outlier near Collie, in the Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.[2][3]

Conservation status

This species is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Conostephium minus Lindl. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Archived from the original on 2021-01-09. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Conostephium minus". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. 1 2 3 Hislop, Michael (2013). "A taxonomic update of Conostephium (Ericacee:Styphelioideae:Styphelieae)". Nuytsia. 23: 316–317. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  4. ↑ Bentham, George (1868). Flora Australiensis. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 160. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  5. ↑ "Conostephium minus". Australian Plant Name Index, IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  6. ↑ Lindley, J. (1839). A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony. p. xxv.
  7. ↑ "minus,-a,-um". www.plantillustrations.org. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
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