Darwinia wittwerorum

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Darwinia wittwerorum
Darwinia wittwerorum.jpg
Darwinia wittwerorum in Kings Park Botanic Garden
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Darwinia
Species:
D. wittwerorum
Binomial name
Darwinia wittwerorum
Darwinia wittwerorumDistMap44.png
Occurrence data from AVH

Darwinia wittwerorum, commonly known as Wittwer's darwinia, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in Western Australia. An erect, spindly shrub with fine leaves and hanging groups of flowers surrounded by leaf-like bracts, it is one of the darwinias known as mountain bells.

Contents

Description

Wittwer's darwinia is an erect shrub with a single stem growing to a height of 60–80 centimetres (20–30 in). The leaves are well spaced along the branches, linear in shape, triangular in cross-section, 5–10 millimetres (0.2–0.4 in) long and less than 0.5 millimetres (0.02 in) wide. [2] [3]

The flowers hang in groups of 5 to 9 surrounded by large, leaf like bracts. The inner bracts are elliptic to egg-shaped, 18–21 millimetres (0.7–0.8 in) long, 6–9 millimetres (0.2–0.4 in) wide and partly cream and partly pink. The outer bracts are cream-coloured and linear in shape. The flowers are cream-coloured and each has ten stamens and a style with a brush on the end. Flowering occurs from August to November. [2] [3]

Taxonomy

The first formal description of D. wittwerorum was published by Neville Marchant and Greg Keighery in 1980 in Nuytsia . [1] The specific epithet (wittwerorum) honours Magda and Ernst Wittwer. [2]

Distribution and habitat

This darwinia is currently only known from eight populations in the lower part of the Stirling Range in the Esperance Plains and Jarrah Forest biogeographic regions, where it grows in open mallee over scrub. [2] [3] [4]

Conservation

Darwinia wittwerorum is classified as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife [4] and a recovery plan has been prepared. It has also been listed as "Endangered" (EN) under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) "due to fragmentation and limited geographic range." [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Darwinia</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

Darwinia, sometimes commonly known as mountain bells or simply bells, is a genus of about 70 species of evergreen shrubs in the family Myrtaceae, endemic to southeastern and southwestern Australia. The majority are native to southern Western Australia, but a few species occur in South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. The genus was named in honour of Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin by Edward Rudge in 1816. Most darwinias grow to a height of between 0.2 and 3 m, and many are prostrate shrubs. Most have small, simple leaves and the flowers are often grouped together, each flower with five red, white or greenish petals and ten stamens. In many species, the flowers are surrounded by large, colourful bracts, giving rise to their common names.

<i>Banksia chamaephyton</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae native to Western Australia

Banksia chamaephyton, commonly known as the fishbone banksia, is a species of shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has prostrate, underground stems, pinnatipartite leaves, cream-coloured and brown flowers arranged in spikes surrounded by hairy bracts. It grows in kwongan near the lower west coast.

<i>Banksia lanata</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to Western Australia

Banksia lanata is a species of shrub that is endemic to a restricted area of Western Australia. It has linear leaves, pale cream-coloured flowers in a head with whitish bracts at the base and later up to fifty elliptical follicles in each head.

<i>Banksia erythrocephala</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to Western Australia

Banksia erythrocephala is a species of prickly shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has erect stems, sharply pointed pinnatifid leaves, cream-coloured and reddish black or all cream-coloured and yellow flowers, and egg-shaped fruit.

Banksia fuscobractea, commonly known as the dark-bract banksia, is a species of shrub that is endemic to a small area in the south-west of Western Australia. It has prickly, serrated, wedge-shaped leaves, pale yellow and cream-coloured flowers in heads of up to almost two hundred, and three or four egg-shaped follicles in each head.

<i>Banksia mucronulata</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteacea endemic to Western Australia

Banksia mucronulata, commonly known as swordfish dryandra, is a species of shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has spreading, hairy stems, linear, deeply pinnatifid leaves with sharply-pointed lobes, pale yellow to cream-coloured flowers in heads of between 80 and 180, and egg-shaped follicles.

<i>Pimelea physodes</i>

Pimelea physodes, commonly known as Qualup bell, is a species of shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has egg-shaped to narrow elliptical leaves and distinctive bell-like inflorescences with tiny greenish flowers surrounded by long elliptical bracts. The inflorescence resembles those of some of the only distantly-related darwinia "bells" and the bracts are a combination of red, purple, green and cream-coloured.

Verticordia verticordina is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area near the coast of the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, low-growing shrub with crowded leaves and in spring, scattered pale greenish-cream and golden brown flowers. Its unusual flowers and fleshy leaves give the plant a superficial resemblance to a Darwinia.

<i>Darwinia collina</i> Species of flowering plant

Darwinia collina, commonly known as the yellow mountain bell, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It grows as an erect shrub 0.3–1.2 metres (1–4 ft) high with crowded elliptical leaves and bright yellow flower-like inflorescences. It is endemic to a few small areas in the Stirling Range National Park, Western Australia and as a result is classified as an endangered species.

<i>Darwinia oxylepis</i> Species of flowering plant

Darwinia oxylepis, commonly known as Gillham's bell, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It grows as a dense, upright shrub 1.0–1.5 m (3.3–4.9 ft) high, and produces large numbers of red inflorescences prominently displayed on the ends of the branchlets in spring. It is one of a group of Darwinias including D. leiostyla, D. macrostegia, D. meeboldii, D. collina and D. squarrosa collectively known as mountain bells. The species is found in only a few seasonally moist gullies near the lower slopes of the Stirling Range National Park and nearby Porongurup National Park and is therefore classified as endangered.

<i>Eremaea brevifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Eremaea brevifolia is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, compact to spreading shrub with small, crowded leaves and orange-coloured flowers in early spring, followed by fruits with a rough outer surface.

<i>Darwinia apiculata</i> Species of flowering plant

Darwinia apiculata, commonly known as the scarp darwinia, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in Western Australia. It is a rounded, densely branched, small shrub with thin red branches and scattered small leaves. The flowers are arranged in small groups on the ends of the branches, their most obvious feature being long, red, pointed bracts surrounding each flower and a longer red style with scattered hairs near its tip.

<i>Darwinia carnea</i> Species of flowering plant

Darwinia carnea, commonly known as Mogumber bell or Narrogin bell is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small shrub with narrow, keeled leaves and flowers in groups of about eight, surrounded by yellowish-green to pinkish-red bracteoles. It occurs in small, isolated populations near the towns which contribute to its common names. It is the only "bell-flowered" Darwinia to not grow in the Stirling Range National Park.

<i>Darwinia chapmaniana</i> Species of flowering plant

Darwinia chapmaniana, commonly known as Chapman's bell or Eganu bell, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a low, rounded, spreading shrub with greyish, hairy leaves and flowers in heads of about 14 small, tubular flowers. The heads are surrounded by long, reddish-yellow, hairy bracts.

Darwinia ferricola, commonly known as the Scott River darwinia, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in Western Australia. It is a rounded, densely branched shrub with crowded, linear leaves mostly only on younger branches. The flowers are greenish-yellow and red, and arranged in groups on the ends of the branches, with a long white or reddish style protruding from the petal tube.

<i>Darwinia foetida</i> Species of flowering plant

Darwinia foetida, commonly known as Muchea bell, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a small upright shrub with greenish coloured nodding flowers at the apex of the stems, that have an unpleasant odour. This is a very restricted species, known from only a couple of locations.

Darwinia nubigena, commonly known as success bell or red mountain bell, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to Western Australia.

Darwinia terricola, commonly known as the Blackwood bell, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, low, sometimes prostrate shrub with small, linear leaves and small groups of flowers surrounded by reddish-green bracts and which usually lie on the ground.

<i>Darwinia whicherensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Darwinia whicherensis, commonly known as the Abba bell, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small shrub with linear leaves and bell-shaped, flower-like inflorescences containing more than twenty flowers surrounded by bracts, the largest of which are red with green edges.

Darwinia divisa is a species of evergreen shrub native to Western Australia. It is presumed to be extinct.

References

  1. 1 2 "Darwinia wittwerorum". APNI. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Marchant, Neville Graeme; Keighery, Gregory John (1980). "A new species and a new combination in Darwinia (Myrtaceae) from Western Australia". Nuytsia. 3 (2): 179–181.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Hartley, Renée; Gilfillan, Sandra; Barrett, Sarah. "Wittwer's Mountain Bell (Darwinia wittwerorum) recovery plan" (PDF). Australian Government Department of the Environment. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Darwinia wittwerorum". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.