Seeds of South Australia
Calytrix smeatoniana (Myrtaceae)
Kangaroo Island Heath-myrtle
List of species for Calytrix
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Seed collecting:
December to January
Herbarium region:
Kangaroo Island
NRM region:
Kangaroo Island
IBRA region
LEGEND
Kangaroo Island (KAN01)Kanmantoo
 Near Threatened   [well protected and stable; restricted to western end of KI]
RSCA map:
Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion. Please click the thumbnail map.
AVH map:
Australian distribution map (external link)
SA Census:
Census of South Australian plants (external link)     [genus Calytrix]
Name derivation:
 Calytrix from the Greek 'kalyx' meaning calyx and 'thrix' meaning hair; referring to the awns on the sepals. Smeatoniana named after Thomas Drury Smeaton (1832-1908), born in London and migrated to Australia as a bank clerk and plant collector.
Distribution:
 Endemic to South Australia and found on the western half of Kangaroo Island.
Status:
 Native. Rare in South Australia.
Plant description:
 Small erect shrub to 1 m high covered in minute spreading hairs. Leaves linear, to 3 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, covered hairs. Inflorescence in small clusters of pinkish white flowers with pink centre. Flowering between August and December. 
Fruit type:
 Brown squarish fruit to 4 mm long and 3 mm wide covered in hairs.
Embryo type:
 Spatulate fully developed.
Seed collecting:
 Collect heads by hand when they are brown and slightly fat at the base. This should contain small hard seed.
Seed cleaning:
 No cleaning is required if only the fruits were collected. If collected with other material, use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place.
Seed viability:
 Seed set and seed viability can be low. From one collection, the seed viability was low, at 40%.
Seeds stored:
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)		Number
of plants		Date
collected		Collection number
Collection location		Date
stored		% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB		45700 (27.6 g)
45700 (27.6 g)		100+13-Dec-2006DJD675
Kangaroo Island		1-Aug-200740%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.