Blandfordia punicea
Encyclopedia
Blandfordia punicea, commonly known as Tasmanian Christmas Bell, is a species
of flowering plant
which is native to western Tasmania
in Australia
.
The bell-shaped flowers are red with yellow tips and are about 4 cm long. They occur in a terminal raceme
on a stalk up to 1 metre in height and are usually very prominent in their native habitat, often rising above ground-level vegetation between mid-spring and early autumn. The leaves, which are strap-like and slightly serrated on the edges, range between 15 and 45 cm in length.
An Australian 50c stamp depicting the species was issued on 13 February 2007.
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...
of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
which is native to western Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
in 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...
.
The bell-shaped flowers are red with yellow tips and are about 4 cm long. They occur in a terminal raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
on a stalk up to 1 metre in height and are usually very prominent in their native habitat, often rising above ground-level vegetation between mid-spring and early autumn. The leaves, which are strap-like and slightly serrated on the edges, range between 15 and 45 cm in length.
An Australian 50c stamp depicting the species was issued on 13 February 2007.