Common name: Rock Sprengelia
Sprengelia monticola (DC.) Druce APNI*
Description: Diffuse or procumbent shrub, 20–50 cm high, glabrous.
Leaves ovate-lanceolate, 3–8.5 mm long, 1.5–2.5 mm wide, mucro to 0.3 mm long, margins entire.
Flowers solitary, white; bracts ovate, 4–5 mm long, subulate, mucronate, glabrous, with broad hyaline margins. Sepals triangular to ovate, c. 7 mm long, subulate, mucronate, glabrous, with broad hyaline margins. Corolla with petals free or cohering for 0.2–0.3 mm at base; lobes erect, 8–9 mm long, acute, glabrous. Anthers 2–2.4 mm long, cohering, glabrous.
Fruit c. 2 mm diam.
Flowering: September–December
Distribution and occurrence: Grows on wet rock faces and ledges or cliff bases on sandstone in the Blue Mtns.
NSW subdivisions: CT
Text by J. M. Powell, except for groups with contributors listed Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 3 (1992)
ECOLOGY
Life History
Flowers White, solitary, September--December, peak October.
Fruit/seed Capsule, 2 mm diam.
Dispersal, establishment and growth Diaspore: seed.
Habitat
Habitat Wet rock faces and ledges or cliff bases.
Altitude 500--1000 m
Annual rainfall 1200--1400 mm
Typical local abundance Frequent.
Vegetation Cliff ledge vegetation e.g. with Todea barbara, Dracophyllum secundum, Gleichenia rupestris, Sticherus tener.
Substrate Lower-nutrient sandstone, wet rock ledges, crevices, with permanent moisture.
Exposure Sheltered sites.
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data ***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
|