Tetratheca glandulosa

Tetratheca glandulosa
t.21
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Oxalidales
Family:	Elaeocarpaceae
Genus:	Tetratheca
Species:	T. glandulosa
Binomial name
Tetratheca glandulosa Sm.

Tetratheca glandulosa is a spreading shrub in the family Elaeocarpaceae. It is endemic to New South Wales.

Description

Its leaves are alternate or opposite or rarely in whorls of three or four. They are linear and 3–20 mm long by 1–2 mm wide with revolute margins and stiff, occasionally gland-tipped hairs which give a toothed appearance. The midrib on lower surface is often glandular/hairy and the leaves are sometimes sessile.

The flowers are solitary (rarely paired) on peduncles which are 3–10 mm long. They can be hairy with dark red, gland-tipped and tubercle-based hairs. The sepals are 2–3 mm long and persist with the fruit. The deep lilac-pink petals are 4.5–10.5 mm long and also persist in the fruit. The ovary is hairy and there are two ovules. The fruit is 3–7 mm long and the seeds are greater than 3 mm long.

It usually flowers from July to November.

It grows in sandy or rocky heath or scrub, from Mangrove Mountain to the Blue Mountains and Sydney.

Taxonomy and naming

Tetratheca glandulosa was first described by James Edward Smith in 1804. The specific epithet, glandulosa, derives from the Latin noun glandula, meaning "gland", to give an adjective describing the plant as "bearing glands" or "gland-bearing".

Conservation status

In New South Wales, it has been declared "vulnerable".