Needhamiella L.Watson

Scientific Description

Family Epacridaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Small shrubs; evergreen. To 0.1–0.2 m high. Leptocaul, or pachycaul. Helophytic to xerophytic. Leaves small; alternate, or opposite; spiral, or four-ranked; erect, ‘herbaceous’, or leathery; imbricate, or not imbricate; petiolate to sessile; non-sheathing; simple. Leaf blades entire; flat, or rolled; parallel-veined; cross-venulate, or without cross-venules. Leaves without stipules. Leaf blade margins flat, or revolute. Stem anatomy. Nodes unilacunar. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite. Entomophilous, or ornithophilous. Pollination mechanism unspecialized.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary, or aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; when solitary, axillary; in racemes. Inflorescences leafy, indeterminate. Flowers bracteate; bi- bracteolate; small; fragrant, or odourless; regular; 5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk present; intrastaminal; annular (cup-shaped). Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 10; 2 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5; 1 -whorled; polysepalous; imbricate; regular; persistent. Corolla 5; 1 -whorled; gamopetalous; lobed (lobes deep, with inflexed tips); valvate (induplicate-valvate); tubular (cylindric); regular; glabrous abaxially, or hairy abaxially (with a few loose hairs); glabrous adaxially (lobes glabrous); red and white; persistent, or deciduous. Androecium 5. Androecial members adnate (to the corolla); all equal; free of one another; 1 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5. Staminal insertion near the base of the corolla tube, or midway down the corolla tube (then below the middle). Stamens remaining included; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous; all alternating with the corolla members. Filaments glabrous; short. Anthers basifixed, or adnate; becoming inverted during development, their morphological bases ostensibly apical in the mature stamens; non-versatile; dehiscing via longitudinal slits (by a single median slit); finally introrse (inverting during development); unilocular, or bilocular; bisporangiate; unappendaged. Pollen shed in aggregates; without viscin strands; in tetrads. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; eu-syncarpous; superior. Ovary plurilocular; 2 locular. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1; short; attenuate from the ovary; apical. Stigmas 1; capitate. Placentation axile. Ovules 1 per locule; pendulous; non-arillate; anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; indehiscent; a drupe. The drupes with one stone. Seeds endospermic. Endosperm oily. Seeds wingless. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2. Embryo straight. Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar.

Physiology, biochemistry. Aluminium accumulation not found. Photosynthetic pathway: C₃.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Native of Australia. Endemic to Australia. Australian states and territories: Western Australia. South-West Botanical Province.

Additional characters Prophylls few.