Philotheca glasshousiensis facts for kids

Philotheca glasshousiensis is a special kind of flowering plant. It belongs to the family called Rutaceae, which also includes citrus fruits. This plant is found only in Queensland, Australia.

It grows as a small bush with branches that have tiny bumps. Its leaves are shaped like a spear or a wedge and grow close together at the ends of the branches. The flowers are cream-coloured and can appear alone or in small groups of up to five.

What Does It Look Like?

Philotheca glasshousiensis is a shrub, which means it's a woody plant smaller than a tree. It usually grows to about 1 meter (about 3 feet) tall. Its branches are smooth.

The leaves are often grouped near the tips of the branches. They are shaped like a spear or a wedge, getting narrower towards the base. These leaves are about 20 to 52 millimeters long and 5 to 11 millimeters wide.

Flowers and Fruit

The flowers grow either by themselves or in small clusters of up to five. Each flower sits on a short stalk called a pedicel, which is about 4 to 12 millimeters long.

Each flower has five roundish sepals, which are like small leaves that protect the bud. It also has five cream-coloured petals that are about 6 to 8.5 millimeters long. Inside the flower, there are ten stamens, which are the parts that produce pollen. These stamens are quite hairy.

This plant usually blooms from February to April. After flowering, it produces a fruit that is about 7 to 11 millimeters long and has a noticeable beak-like shape.

Naming the Plant

This plant was first officially described in 1926 by a scientist named Karel Domin. He first named it Eriostemon glasshousiensis. He published his description in a science journal called Bibliotheca Botanica. The plant specimens he studied were collected in 1909 by Cyril Tenison White in the Glass House Mountains.

Later, in 2005, another scientist named Paul Irwin Forster changed its name to Philotheca glasshousiensis. This new name was published in the journal Austrobaileya.

Where It Lives

Philotheca glasshousiensis is found only in Queensland, Australia. It likes to grow on rocky areas near the tops of mountains. You can find it in places like the Glass House Mountains, north to Mt Cooroora, Cania Gorge National Park, and Kroombit Tops National Park.

How It Is Protected

The Queensland Government has a law called the Nature Conservation Act 1992. Under this law, Philotheca glasshousiensis is listed as a species of "least concern." This means that, for now, there are enough of these plants, and they are not considered to be in danger of disappearing.