Wittsteinia vacciniacea
Encyclopedia
Wittsteinia vacciniacea (Baw Baw Berry) is a shrub species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 in the family Alseuosmiaceae
Alseuosmiaceae
Alseuosmiaceae is a plant family of the order Asterales, found in Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand.They are shrubs with simple, alternate leaves, spiral or whorled, with entire or dentate margins. The solitary flowers are terminal or axillary, or aggregated in fascicles and rarely in...

. It is endemic to Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It grows to about 40 cm high and has leaves which are between 1 and 5 cm long. The fragrant flowers are between 4.5 and 7 mm long and are followed by greenish-white rounded fruits.

The species was first formally described by botanist Ferdinand von Mueller
Ferdinand von Mueller
Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...

 in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae
Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae
Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae is a series of papers authored by the Victorian Government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in which he published many of his approximately 2000 descriptions of new taxa of Australian plants. The papers were issued in 94 parts between 1858 and 1882 and published in...

in 1861.

It occurs on the edge of rainforest and in sheltered woodland in the Eastern Highlands of Victoria.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK