{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Distinguish|Conospermum|Comospermum}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2024}} {{automatic taxobox |image = Comesperma ericinum.JPG |image_caption = ''Comesperma ericinum'' |display_parents = 2 |taxon = Comesperma |authority = Labill. (1806) |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision = 38; see text |subdivision_ref = <ref name = powo>[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:32334-1 ''Comesperma'' Labill.] ''Plants of the World Online''. Retrieved 21 April 2024.</ref> }} {{commons category}}

'''''Comesperma''''' is a genus of shrubs, herbs and lianas in the family Polygalaceae. The genus is endemic to Australia. It was defined by the French botanist Jacques Labillardière in his 1806 work ''Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen''.<ref>{{APNI | name =''Comesperma'' Labill. | id = 19319 }}</ref><ref name="labill">{{cite journal|author=Labillardiere, J.J.H. de |date=1806|title=Diadelphia. Octandria|journal=Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen| volume=2|issue=16|pages= 21, t. 159|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40882010}}</ref> The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek words ''come'' ("hair") and ''sperma'' ("seed"), and relates to the seeds bearing tufts of hair. The genus is distributed over southern Australia, particularly in the southwest of Western Australia,<ref name=EJ84>{{cite book |vauthors=Elliot RW, Jones DL, Blake T |title=Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants Suitable for Cultivation:Volume 3 - Ce-Er|year=1984|page=60|publisher=Lothian Press |location=Port Melbourne |isbn=978-0-85091-167-1}}</ref> where 19 species are found.<ref>{{cite book|author=Margaret G. Corrick|author2=Bruce Fuhrer|title=Wildflowers of Southern Western Australia |publisher=Rosenberg Publishing|location=Kenthurst, New South Wales|year=2009|pages=152|isbn=978-1-877058-84-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gzgsXMXxAd0C&dq=Comesperma&pg=PA152}}</ref> 24 species have been described.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=gn&name=Comesperma|title= Comesperma |accessdate=2007-10-08 |format= |work= PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online |publisher = Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust }}</ref>

The genus was classified in the tribe Polygaleae by Swiss botanist Robert Hippolyte Chodat in 1896. It was also considered a section of the genus ''Bredemeyera'' by van Steenis in 1968.<ref>{{cite journal|author= Steenis, C. G. van |year= 1968|title= Notes on ''Bredemeyera'' (''Comesperma'') with a new Papuan Species and the Australian species listed (PolygaIaceae) |journal=Acta Botanica Neerlandica|volume=17 |issue=5|pages=377–84|doi= 10.1111/j.1438-8677.1968.tb00142.x}}</ref> This was not adopted widely, and a cladistic study based on morphology published in 1993 suggested they remain as separate genera. This analysis placed ''Comersperma'' basal to a group comprising the genera ''Polygala'', ''Monnina'' subg. ''Monninopsis'', ''Nylandtia'', ''Muralita'' and ''Epirixanthes''.<ref>{{cite journal|last= Eriksen|first=Bente|year=1993|title=Floral anatomy and morphology in the Polygalaceae|journal=Plant Systematics and Evolution|volume=186|issue=1–2|pages=33–55|doi=10.1007/bf00937712 |s2cid=32590790}}</ref>

They are generally small shrubs, climbers or trailing plants, with small to vestigial leaves arranged alternately on the stem. The flowers resemble those of pea-flowers, and are borne in racemes. They are generally pink through shades of purple to blue in colour, although yellow-flowered species are known.<ref name=EJ84/> Although the flowers are smaller than those of the related genus ''Polygala'', the racemes can be showy,<ref name=fairley>{{cite book |vauthors = Fairley A, Moore P |title=Native Plants of the Sydney District: An Identification Guide |year=2000 |edition= 2nd|publisher=Kangaroo Press |location=Kenthurst, NSW |isbn=978-0-7318-1031-4 |page=245}}</ref> especially of floriferous species such as ''Comesperma ericinum''.<ref name=EJ84/>

''Comesperma ericinum'' and ''C.&nbsp;volubile'' are sometimes seen in cultivation.<ref name=EJ84/>

==Species== 38 species are accepted.<ref name = powo/> * ''Comesperma acerosum'' {{small|Steetz}} * ''Comesperma albimontanense'' {{small|A.J.Ford & Halford}} * ''Comesperma anemosmaragdinum'' {{small|A.J.Ford & Halford}} * ''Comesperma aphyllum'' {{small|R.Br. ex Benth.}} * ''Comesperma breviflorum'' {{small|Pedley}} * ''Comesperma calcicola'' {{small|Keighery}} * ''Comesperma calymega'' {{small|Labill.}} - blue-spike milkwort * ''Comesperma ciliatum'' {{small|Steetz}} * ''Comesperma confertum'' {{small|Labill.}} * ''Comesperma defoliatum'' {{small|F.Muell.}} * ''Comesperma drummondii'' {{small|Steetz}} - Drummond's milkwort * ''Comesperma ericinum'' {{small|DC.}} - pyramid flower, heath milkwort * ''Comesperma esulifolium'' {{small|(Gand.) Prain}} * ''Comesperma flavum'' {{small|DC.}} * ''Comesperma griffinii'' {{small|Keighery}} * ''Comesperma hispidulum'' {{small|Pedley}} * ''Comesperma integerrimum'' {{small|Endl.}} * ''Comesperma lanceolatum'' {{small|R.Br. ex Benth.}} * ''Comesperma minutum'' {{small|A.J.Ford & Halford}} * ''Comesperma nudiusculum'' {{small|DC.}} * ''Comesperma oblongatum'' {{small|(Benth.) Pedley}} * ''Comesperma pallidum'' {{small|Pedley}} * ''Comesperma patentifolium'' {{small|F.Muell.}} * ''Comesperma polygaloides'' {{small|F.Muell.}} - small milkwort * ''Comesperma praecelsum'' {{small|F.Muell.}} * ''Comesperma retusum'' {{small|Labill.}} * ''Comesperma rhadinocarpum'' {{small|F.Muell.}} - slender-fruited comesperma * ''Comesperma rhyoliticum'' {{small|A.J.Ford & Halford}} * ''Comesperma sabulosum'' {{small|A.J.Ford & Halford}} * ''Comesperma scoparium'' {{small|Drumm.}} - broom milkwort * ''Comesperma secundum'' {{small|Banks ex DC.}} * ''Comesperma sphaerocarpum'' {{small|Steetz}} * ''Comesperma spinosum'' {{small|F.Muell.}} - spiny milkwort * ''Comesperma sylvestre'' {{small|Lindl.}} * ''Comesperma virgatum'' {{small|Labill.}} - milkwort * ''Comesperma viscidulum'' {{small|F.Muell.}} * ''Comesperma volubile'' {{small|Labill.}} - love creeper * ''Comesperma xanthocarpum'' {{small|Steud.}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{FloraBase}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5151564}}

Category:Comesperma Category:Polygalaceae genera Category:Endemic flora of Australia Category:Plants described in 1806 Category:Taxa named by Jacques Labillardière