Australheide plants
| Australheide plants | ||||||||||||
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Epacris microphylla , Lane Cove National Park, NSW , Australia. |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Styphelioideae | ||||||||||||
| Sweet |
The Australheide family (Styphelioideae) are a subfamily of the heather family (Ericaceae), which were previously run as a separate family Epacridaceae . They are native shrubs in the southern hemisphere.
features
The Styphelioideae are shrubs , rarely small trees . The leaves are xeromorphic: small, hard and sharply pointed and alternate on the branches. The epidermis is lignified .
The inflorescence is often axillary. The flowers are mostly small but showy. The color of the crown is white, cream, red, pink or green, rarely bluish, as well as tubular, bell-shaped or urn-shaped. Often the flowers are surrounded by bracts. The ovary is above and surrounded by a disc or nectar glands.
The fruits are capsules or stone fruits , in the latter case often white or brightly colored. The calyx remains when the fruit is ripe.
distribution
The main focus of the distribution is in Australia , only a few genera occur in Malesia , New Zealand and South America . Mostly they colonize dry to moist heather on nutrient-poor, sandy soils. Few species are also found in forests or in tropical mountain forests.
Systematics
There are 35 genera with over 500 species, 230 of which are in the genus Leucopogon .
The genera native to Australia are:
- Acrotriche
- Andersonia
- Archeria
- Astroloma
- Brachyloma
- Budawangia
- Choristemon
- Coleanthera
- Conostephium
- Cosmelia
- Croninia
- Cyathodes
- Dracophyllum
- Epacris
- Leucopogon
- Lissanthe
- Lysinema
- Melichrus
- Monotoca
- Needhamiella
- Oligarrhena
- Pentachondra
- Prionotes
- Richea
- Rupicola
- Sphenotoma
- Sprengelia
- Styphelia
- Trochocarpa
- Woollsia
swell
The article is mainly based on the following web links:
- Styphelioideae on the APWebsite (Engl.)
- Epacridaceae in the Flora of Australia online
- Epacridaceae in L. Watson and MJ Dallwitz (1992 onwards), The families of flowering plants
