Sphaerantia chartacea Peter G.Wilson & B.Hyland

Wilson, Peter G. & Hyland, B.P.M. (1988) Telopea 3(2): 262. Type: Qld, Timber Reserve 176, Monkhouse, Shipton Logging Area, 15 deg 48 S 145 deg 16 B, Hyland 12301, 21.10.1982; holo: QRS; iso: NSW.

Shipton's Penda

Coppice shoots normally present at the butt.

Oil dots very numerous, normally visible to the naked eye. Leaf blades about 6-9 x 2-3.5 cm. Younger leafy twigs 4-angled or shortly 4-winged.

Inflorescence up to 12 cm long. Hypanthium about 5-7 mm broad, clothed in a fine, short indumentum. Sepals broadly deltoid to semicircular, about 2 x 2-3.5 mm, both surfaces clothed in a fine short indumentum. Petals ovate-orbicular, about 2.5-3.5 x 2-3 mm, dotted with oil glands. Stamens numerous, about 16-22 in each fascicle, filaments about 0.9-3.2 mm long, with a few spreading hairs at the base. Ovary sparsely hairy, ovules about 20-30 per locule. Style up to 3 mm long.

Fruits about 12-16 mm diam. Seeds irregularly ovoid, about 6 x 4-5 mm.

Cotyledons lobed, butterfly-like, about 10-15 x 16-22 mm, apex broadly emarginate, base truncate or obtuse. Oil dots numerous, small. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade obovate or elliptic, apex acuminate, base attenuate, glabrous; oil dots numerous, midrib raised on the upper surface. Cataphylls present among the true leaves. Seed germination time 10 days.

Endemic to NEQ, restricted to the area on the western fall of Mt Finnigan. Altitudinal range from 350-600 m. Grows in gallery forest along the banks of perennial creeks.