Homoranthus darwinioides

Scientific name: Homoranthus darwinioides

Author: (Maiden & E. Betch) Cheel

Common name: None listed.

Family: Myrtaceae

Location

The Australian section of the Rock Garden above the large pond is home to two of these small decorative shrubs. They are in Bed 78, slightly to the west of the Southern Hemisphere Scree, and Bed 79 nearby. A donation to the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney by the Australian National Botanic Garden in Canberra was the origin of this collection planted out in 1987.

The Central western Slopes and the Great Dividing Range between Dubbo and Putty are home to this attractive foliage plant. It is not surprising then that it grows in sandy and gravely soils however it is found on both exposed and sheltered sites.

If you are out in the bush on a bright sunny day and smell ‘Duco’ thinners you may be privileged to see Homoranthus cernuus [Rylstonea cernua] a similarly attractive shrub with longer, thinner leaves.

With a geographic range of more than 100 km [3], threatening processes thought likely to cause extinction within 20 to 50 years [V= vulnerable], part of the population reserved [C] and this reservation thought to be adequate [a] a ROTAP [Rare or Threatened Australian Plants] listing of 3VCa has been assigned at national level to H. darwinioides. So, with ‘living treasure’ status we should be doubly careful to ‘take only photographs and leave only footprints’. However, as with all plants, we can always ENJOY!