Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Hibbertia calycina
Common name
Lesser guinea flower
Family
Dilleniaceae
Where found
Dry forest, woodland, grassland, and rocky slopes. ACT and tablelands north from east of the ACT. Kosciuszko National Park and Western Slopes south and west from Lake Burrinjuck.
Notes
Shrub to about 1 m high or sprawling. Stems rough with wart based simple hairs, usually overtopping stalked stellate hairs (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see), often becoming hairless. Leaves alternating up the stems, 0.35–1.5 cm long, about 1 mm wide, surfaces rough with wart based simple hairs. midrib on lower surface below or at the level of the rolled down margins and continued into the tips. The narrow midrib does not touch the rolled down margins. Flowers yellow, with 5 petals each 5.5–9 mm long. Stamens 8–18, on 1 side of the carpels. Carpels 2, hairy. Calyx with simple hairs usually overtopping stalked stellate hairs (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see). Flowers stalkless, single, on short shoots and at the tops of the stems. Flowering: winter to spring.
ACT. Hibbertia calycina is pretty widespread in grassland and grassy woodland in the Canberra area as well as occurring in dry forest on Black Mountain, Bruce Ridge, Gossan Hill etc. Compared with Hibbertia stricta it has more of a sub-shrub habit (although Rosemary has found some plants that are quite woody). The main character that distinguishes it from Hibbertia stricta is the presence of simple hairs on the calyx (usually over/with stalked stellate hairs). The midrib on the lower leaf surface ranges from below to level with or just above the level of the curved down leaf margins; if just above, the midrib is flattish in transverse section. (Personal communication from Rosemary Purdie, 13 January 2019. She used a binocular microscope for looking at the sepals. The macro app on a phone/tablet might manage)
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Hibbertia~calycina (accessed 19 January, 2021)
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