Verticordia 
toothed, apex deeply + bifid. Stamens c. 2.5 mm long. 
Style c. 6 mm long. Flowering and fruiting: June - 
Oct. Fig. 56 
From the Kimberley to the eastern NT border on 
seasonally flooded, sandy sites. 
V. decussata S.T.Blake ex Byrnes 
Shrub to 5 m. Leaves decussate, closely imbricate 
on short axillary shoots, ascending, semicircular in 
cross section, the adaxial surface grooved, 1.5-2.5 mm 
long, c. 0.5 mm wide. Pedicels c. 1 mm long. 
Bracteoles c. 2.5 mm long. Buds c. 2.5 mm long. 
Hypanthium c. 2 mm long, 3 mm wide. Sepals c. 4 
mm long. Petaline tube c. 0.3 mm long; lobes ovate, 
2-2.5 mm long, margin and apex irregularly toothed. 
Staminal tube c. 0.75 mm long; staminodes glandu- 
lar-bullate. Style c. 3.5 mm long. Flowering: July - 
Nov; fruiting: Nov - Dec. Fig. 56 
An NT endemic from the Arnhem Land plateau; 
MYRTACEAE 181 
not yet recorded from the DR but found nearby on 
sandstone at Edith R. 
V. verticillata Byrnes 
Shrub to 6 m. Leaves whorled, 4 per whorl, curved, 
triquetrous with midrib raised on the adaxial surface, 
11-30 mm long, c. 0.5 mm wide. Pedicels 10-13 mm 
long. Buds 4.5-5 mm long. Bracteoles c. 4 mm long. 
Hypanthium 1.5-2 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide. Sepals 
5-7 mm long. Petaline tube c. 1 mm long; lobes ovate, 
3-4 mm long, margin irregularly toothed, apex 
entire, acute. Stamens (including tube) c. 4 mm long. 
Style 8-10 mm long. Flowering: July - Noy; fruiting: 
Dec - Jan. Fig. 56 
Distribution as for V. cunninghamii. Similar in 
appearance to that species; both occur on sandy soils 
though V. verticillata is usually on more elevated sites 
which are not seasonally flooded. Preferred habitat 
includes stabilised coastal dunes. 
XANTHOSTEMON F.Muell. 
Evergreen trees, rarely shrubby. Leaves decussate or alternate, usually congested terminally. Inflorescence 
a simple or compound pleiochasium. Flowers 4-5-merous. Hypanthium ‘broadly campanulate and shallow. 
Sepals free, persistent. Petals clawed. Stamens numerous, free or slightly fused at the base, in 1 or 2 whorls on 
the hypanthium rim; anther dehiscence longitudinal. Ovary half inferior, 3-5-locular. Style + equal to stamen 
length. Capsule woody. 
50 species in Australia, Malesia, New Caledonia; 14 in tropical Australia, 4 in the NT, 3 in the DR. All NT 
species are treated here. [Dawson, 1972; Wilson, 1990] 
1. Branchlets quadrangular; leaves decussate 
1. Branchlets rounded; leaves alternate ........s.ssssscesecee0+ 
2. Leaf base obtuse to cordate; petioles to 2 mm long... 
2. Leaf base attenuate; petioles 2-10 mm long... 
Bs Petals and stamens yellow; stamens 20-27 mm long; 
fruit globose, 7-13 mm diam., glabrous ...........00 
3. Petals and stamens cream; stamens c. 7 mm long; 
fruit depressed globular, 5-6 mm diam., pubescent 
X. eucalyptoides F.Muell. ° 
Metrosideros eucalyptoides (F.Muell.) FMuell. 
Tree 5-18 m; bark grey, flaky. Branchlets quadran- 
gular, puberulous. Leaves decussate; petioles c. 2 mm 
long; blades discolorous, elliptic, 65-132 mm long, 
32-68 mm wide, puberulous or glabrescent, base 
obtuse to cordate, apex obtuse or emarginate. 
Inflorescence cymose, often several in the upper ax- 
ils forming a terminal cluster of 5-30 flowers, to 40 
mm long; bracts filiform, persistent; all parts 
2 
sthrirsittiituir three reesei: 3 
X. eucalyptoides 
X. umbrosus 
X. paradoxus 
X. psidioides 
puberulous. Pedicels 4-7 mm Jong. Hypanthium c. 2 
mm long, 3.5-4.5 mm wide. Calyx lobes arising with 
the stamens from the staminal disc, 4 or 5, linear to 
spathulate, 1.5-2 mm long. Corolla absent. Stamens 
white, well spaced in 2 whorls, 7-8 mm long. Fruit 
globose, 4-7 mm long, glabrous. Flowering: Apr - 
Oct; fruiting: Aug - May. Fig. 57 
Relatively common, from Arnhem Land to the 
Kimberley; in the DR in Litchfield NP. On perennial 
streams, especially those associated with sandstone. 
