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Philotheca

Philotheca is a genus of about fifty species of flowering plants in the family Rutaceae. Plants in this genus are shrubs with simple leaves arranged alternately along the stems, flowers that usually have five sepals, five petals and ten stamens that curve inwards over the ovary. All species are endemic to Australia and there are species in every state, but not the Northern Territory.

Philotheca
Philotheca buxifolia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Subfamily: Zanthoxyloideae
Genus: Philotheca
Rudge[1]
Philotheca coccinea
Philotheca conduplicata
Philotheca myoporoides
Philotheca nodiflora
Philotheca scabra
Philotheca spicata

Description

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Plants in the genus Philotheca are shrubs that are either glabrous or have tiny, simple hairs. The leaves are arranged alternately along the stems, narrow oblong to almost cylindrical and sessile or on a very short petiole. From a single to many flowers are arranged in leaf axils or on the ends of the branchlets. The flowers have five sepals and five petals (except in P. virgata which has four). The sepals are free from each other and the petals usually overlap at their bases. There are ten stamens that curve inwards over the ovary with anthers that have an appendage called the "apiculum". The ovary contains five carpels fused near their bases. The seeds are 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) long and are released explosively from their capsule.[2][3][4][5]

Taxonomy and naming

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The genus Philotheca was first formally described in 1816 by Edward Rudge from a specimen collected near Port Jackson and the description was published in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London.[6][7] The first species Rudge described was P. australis but this name is considered a nomen illegitimum and a taxonomic synonym of Philotheca salsolifolia by the Australian Plant Census.[8]

The name Philotheca should have been written Psilotheca after the Ancient Greek words psilos meaning "bare", "smooth", "bald" or "naked"[9]: 123  and theke meaning "case", "container", "envelope" or "sheath",[9]: 118  referring to "the smooth tube of the stamens".[10]

Many plants formerly in Eriostemon are now in this genus.[11]

Distribution

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Plants in the genus Philotheca are found in every state of Australia, but not in the Northern Territory.[4]

Species

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The following is a list of Philotheca species accepted by the Australian Plant Census as at April 2019:[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Philotheca". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  2. ^ Wilson, Paul G. "Philotheca". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  3. ^ Walsh, Neville. "Philotheca". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  4. ^ a b Weston, Peter H.; Harden, Gwen J. "Philotheca". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  5. ^ "Philotheca". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  6. ^ "Philotheca". APNI. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  7. ^ Rudge, Edward (1815). "A Description of several new Species of Plants from New Holland". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 11 (2): 298. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  8. ^ "Philotheca salsolifolia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  9. ^ a b Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  10. ^ Craig, John (1849). A New Universal Etymological and Pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language embracing all the terms used in art, science and literature. London: Henry George Collins.
  11. ^ Bayly, Michael (March 1999). "A Name Change for Most Eriostemons". Australian Plants online. The Society for Growing Australian Plants.
  12. ^ "Philotheca". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 3 May 2019.

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