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Archeria serpyllifolia

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Archeria serpyllifolia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Archeria
Species:
A. serpyllifolia
Binomial name
Archeria serpyllifolia
Archeria serpyllifolia flower, Greg Jordan, 2019, University of Tasmania, Key to Tasmanian Vascular Plants

Archeria serpyllifolia is a dense, compact, low growing shrub, that is endemic to Tasmania, Australia, inhabiting the undisturbed alpine areas of southern and south-west Tasmania.[2] This plant is commonly referred to by Australasian naturalists as thyme archeria.

Archeria serpyllifolia bud, Greg Jordan, 2019, University of Tasmania, Key to Tasmanian Vascular Plants

Description

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The Archeria genus is a part of the Ericaceae family, a family of flowering plants that is commonly referred to as the heath family. Archeria serpyllifolia is one of six species under the Archeria genus.[3] This shrub is characteristically woody and rigid, ranging from approximately 15–25 cm in height, and exhibiting fasciculate, ascending branches, that are somewhat glabrous in appearance. The leaves have a high resemblance to those of Epacris serpyllifolia, which are small (up to 5 mm long), suberect, elliptical-ovate in shape, very thick and coriaceous and exhibit a minutely serrate edge.[1] Leaves also display a few veins on their light green under surface and are generally blunter than those of the similar species Archeria comberi, which also differs in having solitary flowers.[2] The flowers are crowded on a short, erect terminal, with six to eight flowered racemes. The peduncles bracteate at the base, and pedicels have one bracteole at their insertion.[1]

Archeria serpyllifolia fruiting, Greg Jordan, 2019, University of Tasmania, Key to Tasmanian Vascular Plants

Habitat and Distribution

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Archeria serpyllifolia is endemic to south-western Tasmania.[2] It is largely found on acidic soils and grows in montane environments at higher altitudes in shrublands and forests.[3] This alpine shrub often inhabits areas of mainly unburnt vegetation.[2]

Distribution Map of Archeria serpyllifolia in Tasmania, Atlas of Living Australia, 2023

Etymology

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This plant was named by British botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1844, after the nineteenth century Tasmanian botanist William Archer.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Hooker, J.D. and Fitch, W.H. (1844) "The botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and terror in the years 1839-1843: under the command of captain sir James Clark Ross, by Joseph Dalton Hooker"
  2. ^ a b c d [1] Jordan, G. (2019) Key to Tasmanian Vascular Plants, Key to Tasmanian dicots. University of Tasmania
  3. ^ a b [2] Crayn, D.M. and Quinn, C.J. (1998) “Archerieae: A new tribe in Epacridaceae,” Australian Systematic Botany, 11(1), p. 23.
  4. ^ [3] Morton, C.V. and Allan, H.H. (1967) Flora of New Zealand, volume I, indigenous Tracheophyta (Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, dicotyledones), American Fern Journal, 57(2), p. 93.
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