Triplarina volcanica



Triplarina volcanica is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to Queensland, where it is only found in three mountainous areas. It is a shrub with elliptical to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base and flowers with five sepals, five white petals and fourteen to sixteen stamens.

Description
Triplarina volcanica is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 1–2.5 m and has a fibrous or scaly bark. The leaves are elliptical to lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 4.6–7.2 mm long and 1.5–3.3 mm wide on a petiole about 0.5 mm long. The flowers are 5–6 mm in diameter on a peduncle 1.4–1.5 mm long with bracts 0.4–1.1 mm long and bracteoles 1.1–1.3 mm long. The sepal lobes are oblong, about 0.5 mm long and 0.7–0.8 mm wide, the petals white, 1.8–2.0 mm long and wide. There are fourteen to sixteen stamens on filaments 0.9–1.0 mm long. Flowering has been recorded in most months and the fruit is a hemispherical capsule about 1.5 mm long.

Taxonomy and naming
Triplarina volcanica was first formally described by Anthony Bean in 1995 and the description was published in the journal Austrobaileya from specimens he collected near Mount Beerburrum in the Glass House Mountains in 1993.

In the same journal, Bean described two subspecies and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
 * Triplarina volcanica subsp. borealis A.R.Bean has leaves 4.1–7.2 mm long and 1.5–2.1 mm wide;
 * Triplarina volcanica A.R.Bean subsp. volcanica has leaves 5.4–7.0 mm long and 2.3–3.3 mm wide.

The specific epithet (volcanica) refers to the rocks on which this species grows, and the epithet borealis means "northern", referring to the more northerly distribution of this subspecies.

Distribution and habitat
This triplarina occurs in a few mountainous areas in eastern Queensland where it grows in heath. Subspecies borealis occurs on Mount Walsh and Biggenden Bluff, near Biggenden and subspecies volcanica is endemic to the Glass House Mountains.

Conservation status
Triplarina volcanica is classified as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992.

Use in horticulture
Subspecies volcanica is sometimes cultivated as Baeckea camphorata.