Conostephium

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Ordo: Ericales

Familia: Ericaceae
Subfamilia: Epacridoideae
Tribus: Styphelieae
Genus: Conostephium
Species: C. drummondii – C. hortiorum – C. laeve – C. magnum – C. marchantiorum – C. minus – C. papillosum – C. pendulum – C. preissii – C. prolatum – C. pungens – C. roei – C. uncinatum
Source(s) of checklist:

Hassler, M. 2020. Conostephium. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2020. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 Apr 24. Reference page.

Name

Conostephium Benth., 1837.
References
Primary references

Bentham, G., 1837. Enumeratio plantarum quas in Novae Hollandiae ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus Liber Baro de Hügel 76.

Links

Hassler, M. 2020. Conostephium. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2020. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 Apr 24. Reference page.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Conostephium in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 Apr 24. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2020. Conostephium. Published online. Accessed: Apr 24 2020.
Tropicos.org 2020. Conostephium. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 Apr 24.

Vernacular names

Conostephium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The name of the genus comes from Greek words, conos, "cone" and stephanos, "that which encircles, a crown or wreath".[1]

Description

The plants in the genus Conostephium are small evergreen shrubs with small to medium-sized simple leaves. The flowers occur singly in the axils of the leaves, have 5 sepals, 5 corolla lobes ("petals") which are united at their base into a long corolla tube, and 5 stamens. The fruit is a more or less fleshy drupe.[2]
Taxonomy

There are 12 species in the genus, 4 having been added recently. The most distinctive features of the genus are the corolla tube which is conical in the upper half, the tiny corolla lobes and very long anthers which are fully enclosed within the corolla tube. These 3 features are thought to be adaptations to buzz pollination.[3][4] The genus is most closely related to Brachyloma and Stenanthera but those genera have saccate corolla tubes, much large corolla lobes and shorter anthers which extend partially beyond the corolla tube.[5]

Conostephium pendulum was the first species of Conostephium to be described (by Bentham in 1837). Then, within ten years, two more were added - (C. minus and C. preissii). In 1859, the Russian botanist Sergej Sergeevitch Stscheglejew described a new genus, Conostephiopsis in which he placed a new species (Conostephiopsis drummondii). At the same time, he transferred C. minus and C. preissii to the new genus, making Conostephium once more monotypic. In 1886, Bentham in Flora Australiensis grouped the two genera and added a fourth species (Conostephium roei). Much later, C. marchantiorum Strid (1986), C. uncinatum Moezel (1987) and C. magnum Cranfield (2002) were added. The latest additions were made (in 2013) by Michael Hislop, a botanical taxonomist at the Western Australian Herbarium[6]
Species

The following is a list of Conostephium species accepted by the Australian Plant Census as at September 2020:

Conostephium drummondii Stschegl C.A.Gardner
Conostephium hortiorum Hislop
Conostephium laeve Hislop
Conostephium magnum Cranfield
Conostephium marchantiorum Strid
Conostephium minus Lindl
Conostephium papillosum Hislop
Conostephium pendulum Benth
Conostephium preissii Sond
Conostephium prolatum Hislop
Conostephium roei Benth
Conostephium uncinatum Moezel

Distribution

All Conospermum species are endemic to the southwestern part of Western Australia.[7]
References

"Conostephium pendulum". Friends of Queens Park bushland. 2011. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
Coleman, H.R. (3 October 2008). "Florabase - The Western Australian Flora". Retrieved 10 January 2015.
Johnson, Karen A.; MacQuillan, Peter B. (2011). "Comparative floral presentation and bee-pollination in two Sprengelia species (Ericaceae)". Cunninghamia. 12 (1): 45.
Houston, Terry F.; Ladd, P.G. (7 February 2002). "Buzz pollination in the Epacridaceae". Australian Journal of Botany. 50 (1): 83–91. doi:10.1071/BT01020.
Hislop, Michael (25 July 2013). "A taxonomic update of Conostephium (Ericaceae: Styphelioideae: Styphelieae)". Nuytsia. 23: 313–335.
Cowley, K.J.; West, J.G. (July 2013). "Resources of Australian Herbaria". Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (CHAH). Retrieved 18 January 2015.
Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. pp. 235, 236. ISBN 0646401009.