Homoranthus elusus is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. It is an shrub with linear leaves and with groups of up to four flowers in leaf axils. It is only known from a single specimen collected near Tenterfield.[2][3]

Homoranthus elusus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Homoranthus
Species:
H. elusus
Binomial name
Homoranthus elusus

Description edit

An erect shrub with 2-4 flowers held erect in leaf axils at branchlet apex. Flowers in July and August.[4]

Taxonomy and naming edit

Homoranthus elusus was first formally described in 2011 by Lachlan Copeland, Lyndley Craven and Jeremy Bruhl from a specimen collected on Bluff Rock near Tenterfield in 2002 and the description was published in Australian Systematic Botany.[5] The specific epithet (elusus) is a Latin word meaning "avoid", "evade", "frustrate" or "baffle",[6] referring to the unsuccessful attempts by the authors to locate the species.[2]

Distribution and habitat edit

Known from a single collection from Bluff Rock south of Tenterfield New South Wales. May grow in scrub and heath patches.[4]

Conservation status edit

Known from a single specimen collected in 1992. Briggs and Leigh (1996) conservation code 1E. IUCN (2010) should be considered 'Critically Endangered'.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ "Homoranthus elusus". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  2. ^ a b Copeland, Lachlan M.; Craven, Lyn A.; Bruhl, Jeremy J. (2011). "A taxonomic review of Homoranthus (Myrtaceae:Chamelaucieae)". Australian Systematic Botany. 24 (6): 366–367. doi:10.1071/SB11015.
  3. ^ Wilson, Peter G. "Homoranthus elusus". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Copeland, Lachlan M.; Craven, Lyn A.; Bruhl, Jeremy J. (2011). "A taxonomic review of Homoranthus (Myrtaceae: Chamelaucieae)". Australian Systematic Botany. 24 (6): 351. doi:10.1071/SB11015.
  5. ^ "Homoranthus elusus". APNI. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  6. ^ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 709.

External links edit