Botanical art
Prior names
Astroloma humifusum
Astroloma pallidum
Astroloma humifusum var. denticulatum
Ventenatia humifusa
Astroloma denticulatum
Common names
Native Cranberry
Cranberry Heath
Etymology
Styphelia from the Greek 'styphelos' meaning hard or rough; alluding to the stiff prickly-pointed leaves. Humifusum from the Latin 'humus' meaning low- growing, alluding to its prostrate habit.
Distribution and status
Found on the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas, Flinders and Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island, the Murray and South-east in South Australia, growing in open forest and mallee scrub on loam or sandy soils over granite or limestone. Also found in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Prostrate mat-forming shrub to 40cm across. Leaves linear, narrow-elliptic or oblanceolate to 18 mm long and 3 mm wide; thin, striate-veined on lower surface; apex often recurved. Flowers solitary, or rarely 2-3, corolla tube cylindrical, bright-red, to 12 mm long, densely bearded inside except at the tip. Flowering between June and November. Fruits are dark-green to purple globular drupe. Seeds are brown, woody ellipsoid seed to 6 mm long and 4 mm wide. Seed embryo type is linear, underdeveloped.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between November and March. Collect ripe drupes, those that are fat and turning purple. Fruits may also be gathered from the ground under the foliage. Remove unwanted material from the seed collection, leaving only fruits. Place fruits in a bucket of water and leave to soak over night. Then rub the fruit to remove the flesh. Rub and change the water a few times until all the fresh are removed. Leave the cleaned seed to dry and then store with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 92%. This species has morphophysiological dormancy and is difficult to germinate
Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MSB | 1,300 (50.5 g) | >100 | 12-Oct-2005 | DJD138 South Eastern |