Pseudanthus micranthus

Pseudanthus micranthus, commonly known as fringed pseudanthus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Picrodendraceae and is endemic to the south-east of South Australia. It is a compact, monoecious shrub with simple, egg-shaped to round leaves and yellow flowers arranged in leaf axils, but appearing clustered on the ends of branches.

Description
Pseudanthus micranthus is a compact, monoecious shrub that typically grows to a height of 10–30 cm and is intricately branched. Its leaves are egg-shaped to round, 1.7–6 mm long and 1.2–2.7 mm wide on a petiole 0.3–0.4 mm long with reddish-brown, triangular to thread-like stipules 0.4–1 mm long at the base. The leaves are glabrous. The flowers are arranged in groups of several to many on the ends of branches with bracts about 0.5 mm long at the base. Male flowers are on a pedicel 0.4–1.3 mm long, the 6 tepals yellowish with a red tinge, 0.6–1.6 mm long and 0.5–1 mm wide and there are usually 3 stamens. Female flowers are sessile, the 4 to 6 tepals yellows with reddish-brown edges, 1.1–1.5 mm long and 0.8–1 mm wide. Flowering has been observed in January and from April to November, and the fruit is an oval capsule 3.5–5.5 mm long.

Taxonomy and naming
Pseudanthus micranthus was first formally described in 1873 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis from specimens collected near Adelaide by Joseph Whittaker. The specific epithet (micranthus) means small and prickly.

Distribution and habitat
Pseudanthus micranthus grows in shrubland, heath and mallee in the Mount Lofty Ranges and on Kangaroo Island in the south-east of South Australia.