Kingdom Plantae Family Myrtaceae Rank Species | Order Myrtales Genus Homoranthus | |
Homoranthus wilhelmii is a small shrub in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. The species is endemic to South Australia. The distribution includes an area on the Yorke Peninsula, but it is most common on the southern Eyre Peninsula.
Homoranthus wilhelmii is one of 22 species of shrubs in the genus Homoranthus. The form may be dwarfed, around 300 mm tall, or an erect shrub up to 1.5 m tall; the branches, usually sparse, spread out between 300 and 900 mm. Unlike most members of Myrtaceae, the arrangement of leaves are opposite in this species. The leaves are grey-green, scented, between 4 and 7 mm long, 1 mm wide, semi-cylindrical or triangular in cross section, and terminate in a short and sharp point. Floral leaves differ from these, appearing as small bracts. The small flowers are in a dense and corymbose arrangement at the ends of the branches, these are pink and white and slightly fragrant. The calyx has a cylindrical hypanthium which is divided into three to six hair-like forms on each of the upper lobes.
The specific epithet commemorates Carl Wilhelmi, a collector of seeds and specimens of the region, who obtained the type collection at Port Lincoln in November 1854. The first description, published by Ferdinand von Mueller in 1855, was as a species of Verticordia, this gave rise to the common name of Eastern Feather-flower. No current species of verticordia occurs in the region. The shrub was later transferred to its current arrangement by the mycologist Edwin Cheel.
The species is not well known to horticulture, although trials in its cultivation have been successful in a number of regions of Australia. H. wilhelmii has been propagated, by enthusiasts of native flora, from seed and cuttings for private gardens. The plant grows in partly shaded or sunny positions, in sandy soil or well-drained loam, and has a long flowering period. Freshly cut flowering stems have a potential application in floristry.