About

The aim of this blog is to provide information about some of the plants in the Myrtaceae family with a focus on the south west of Western Australia. Whilst some genera within the family, for example Eucalyptus, are covered well by existing books and on-line resources others are not.

The genera I am intending to cover have little written about them outside the botanical journals and some books which are long out of print. To make matters more difficult the genera have been in a state of flux for some years with some being divided into a number of new ones.

The format of the blog will be an entry for a genus linked to entries for the species within it. I am keeping the format of the entries simple as I want them to be readable on multiple devices and anything complicated seems not to work well on phones. I have also found that the Blogger editor can be flaky so it is best to keep posts short and simple!

I am not a botanist but I have had to absorb some of the language they use so that I can make sense of articles in botanical journals. If you are reading this blog then it is likely you have also done the same or will have to at some point! There is a good glossary on Florabase but I often right click on words and lookup or search for them. I will inevitably use such terms from time to time but will try not to too much!

I will use my own photos as much as possible but will use photos from elsewhere where I do not have suitable photos. I am a very keen user of iNaturalist and most of the photos will be sourced from there - I am very grateful to fellow iNaturalist users for using copyright settings that permit this.

Comments are welcomed and hopefully I can leave them enabled without spam happening. I'm also very happy to receive comments through iNaturalist messages - I am Boobook99 there.

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Taxandria

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There are eleven species of Taxandria all endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. One species, conspicua, is divided into two subspecies. They are usually shrubs but two species, T. parviceps and T. linearifolia grow into very small trees and T. juniperina can grow into quite a large tree (over 20 m tall). Flowers are in heads, generally globular. The most noticeable feature of the flowers, which may require a magnifying glass (or phone magnifying app) to see, is there are ten stamens, one opposite each petal and sepal. The use of the word opposite confused me when I was first looking at this genus and to the non-botanist could perhaps be better described as 'next to' as there is one stamen by each petal and sepal. The name taxandria is derived from the Latin tax - ordered and andrus - male and refers to this orderly stamen arrangement. The fruit, like the flower heads, are in clusters, generally globular, each fruit having three valves. Taxandria marginata flower showi
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Taxandria angustifolia

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Angustifolia from the Latin angustus - narrow and folius - leaved.  This species has a limited distribution. It can be found in restricted areas from Mount Hallowell near Denmark to Cheynes Beach, including the Porongurups. Occurs in heath, shrubland or woodland, on sandy or loamy soils often overlying granitic rocks, only occasionally in winter-wet swamps. A fairly bushy, upright shrub up to 3.5 m tall, it is characterised by its long thin leaves. These are 10–23 mm long, up to 1.5 mm wide, thick, concave above and convex below. The flowers are in clusters either axillary or on short shoots. Bracts and bracteoles largely hairless. The sepals are triangular and either hairless or with sparse hairs. Petals white. Stamens 10, one opposite each sepal and petal. Fruits in roughly globular clusters, typically 6-10 mm across. Each capsule ovoid 2–3 mm across, hairless or slightly hairy. Flowers January to July but the dried petals persist long after that. Fruits September to December the fru
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Taxandria floribunda

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(c) Bushmonger, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) Floribunda from thFloribunda from the Latin - flowering profusely. Occurs within the Stirling Range National Park and near Cranbrook. Grows in heath or mallee-heath on lower and upper slopes of mountain peaks, on sand or sandy clay over quartzite or on stony ground, occasionally on peaty sand associated with swamps or winter-wet depressions. A shrub to 2 m tall. The leaves are single, sometimes crowded but not clustered except around flower heads, with a stalk up to 2 mm long; blade obovate or obovate-elliptic, sometimes narrowly so, often undulate or twisted and often recurved towards the apex, typically 5–15 mm long and 1.5–4.5 mm wide, with 1 or 3 longitudinal veins, hairless except when young, tapered to the base, margin usually minutely and irregularly indented, the tip pointed and mucronate (the vein terminates in an exposed point). The flowers are in clusters either axillary or on short shoots. The clusters may only consist of a few
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