Verticordia habrantha

Last updated

Hidden featherflower
Verticordia habrantha.jpg
Verticordia habrantha - Flickr - Kevin Thiele.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Verticordia
Subgenus: Verticordia subg. Verticordia
Section: Verticordia sect. Catocalypta
Species:
V. habrantha
Binomial name
Verticordia habrantha
Synonyms [2]

Verticordia habrantha, commonly known as hidden featherflower, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a slender shrub with short, leafy side-branches and long flowering stems with rounded heads of mostly white flowers. Its hairy sepals are mostly hidden by the round, unfringed petals, and as a result, the plant looks like shrubs in the genus Chamelaucium , to which it is closely related.

Contents

Description

Verticordia habrantha is a shrub which grows to 15–90 cm (6–40 in) high and 10–50 cm (4–20 in) wide and which has a few main stems with many short, leafy side-branches. The leaves on the side branches are linear to narrow elliptic in shape, roughly triangular in cross-section, 2–10 mm (0.08–0.4 in) long, while those on the flowering stems are elliptic to egg-shaped and up to 3 mm (0.1 in) long. [3]

The flowers are arranged in rounded or corymb-like groups near the ends of the long flowering stems, each flower on an erect stalk, 6–13 mm (0.2–0.5 in) long. The floral cup is about 1.5 mm (0.06 in) long and covered with short, soft hairs. The sepals are white, sometimes pale pink, spreading but curving upwards, 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long, with 8 to 12 hairy lobes and two ear-shaped, hairy appendages on the sides. The petals are the same colour as the sepals, egg-shaped to almost round, 2.5–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in), spreading with a smooth edge and are joined with the ring of stamens and staminodes, to form a short tube. The style is less than 0.5 mm (0.02 in) long, straight and glabrous. Flowering time is from September to December. [3]

V. habrantha with other species, in a painting by Ellis Rowan Verticordia habrantha (Rowan).jpg
V. habrantha with other species, in a painting by Ellis Rowan

The genus Verticordia is closely related to waxflowers of Chamelaucium and this verticordia superficially resembles a waxflower because the "feathery" sepals are hidden by the smooth-edged petals.

Taxonomy and naming

The first formal description of this species was published by Johannes Conrad Schauer in Lehmann's 1844 Plantae Preissianae, from a specimen collected by Ludwig Preiss near the Gordon River. [1] [4] The specific epithet (habrantha) is a derived from the Greek words habros meaning "dainty" or "pretty" and anthos meaning "a flower". [3]

When Alex George reviewed the genus in 1991, he placed this species in subgenus Verticordia, section Catocalypta along with V. roei , V. inclusa , V. apecta , V. insignis , V. lehmannii and V. pritzelii . [5]

Distribution and habitat

This verticordia usually grows in sandy soils, with, or over loam, clay or gravel, sometimes in gravelly soil derived from granite, sometimes on spongolite. It often grows in areas that are inundated in winter and with other species of Verticordia in heath, shrubland or woodland. It is found from the Busselton area east to the Hamersley River and north to Kulin and the Arthur River [3] in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren biogeographic regions. [6] [7]

Conservation

Verticordia habrantha is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife. [6]

Use in horticulture

Although this species is attractive with its fleshy foliage and waxy-looking flowers, it has been difficult to establish in gardens. Some forms appear to be easier than others and have been hardy in both summer- and winter-rainfall areas. Propagation has been from cuttings but these have been difficult to grow on. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Verticordia plumosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Verticordia plumosa, commonly known as plumed featherflower, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It was the first species in the genus to be described, although initially given the name Chamelaucium plumosum. It is a shrub with linear leaves and rounded groups of scented pink, mauve or white flowers. Two varieties of this species have been declared as being "threatened".

<i>Kunzea parvifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea parvifolia, commonly known as the violet kunzea, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a wiry shrub with small, narrow leaves and clusters of pink to purple flowers in spring.

<i>Regelia inops</i> Species of flowering plant

Regelia inops is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an upright but often spreading shrub with tiny wedge shaped leaves and small heads of pink flowers on the ends of its branches in the warmer months.

<i>Verticordia endlicheriana</i> Species of shrub

Verticordia endlicheriana is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with narrow leaves and yellow flowers which in some varieties age to red. It is a variable species and in his 1991 paper, Alex George formally described five varieties.

Verticordia endlicheriana var. endlicherliana is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, compact shrub with mostly narrow leaves and golden-yellow flowers which age to reddish brown.

Verticordia endlicheriana var. angustifolia is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, upright shrub with narrow leaves and sweetly-perfumed, golden-yellow flowers which do not change colour as they age.

Verticordia endlicheriana var. compacta is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, usually compact shrub with sweetly-perfumed, golden-yellow flowers which fade through reddish to almost black as they age.

Verticordia endlicheriana var. major is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, compact shrub with lightly-scented, lemon-yellow flowers which do not change colour as they age.

<i>Verticordia endlicheriana <span style="font-style:normal;">var.</span> manicula</i> Variety of flowering plant

Verticordia endlicheriana var. manicula is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is usually a small, compact shrub with sweetly-perfumed, lemon-yellow flowers which change colour through red to brown as they age.

Verticordia lehmannii is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is slender shrub with only a few branches, well-spaced, oppositely arranged leaves and small heads of pale pink to silvery flowers with a dark pink centre.

<i>Verticordia lindleyi</i> Species of flowering plant

Verticordia lindleyi is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is sometimes an openly branched shrub, other times more or less dense, with small leaves and spreading, spike-like groups of pink or purple flowers along the stems in summer, sometimes also in autumn.

Verticordia serotina is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the north-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with egg-shaped leaves and bright pink flowers with long, curved styles in spring.

<i>Kunzea micrantha</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea micrantha is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south west of Western Australia. It blooms between September and December producing pink-purple to white-cream flowers. A widespread and variable species, it is difficult to distinguish from K. praestans and from K. micromera where their range overlap.

<i>Kunzea micromera</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea micromera is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south west of Western Australia. It is a small, sparse shrub, similar in some respects to K. micrantha but has shorter, more rounded sepal lobes. It produces groups of pink flowers on the ends of a few long shoots in spring.

<i>Kunzea pauciflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea pauciflora, the Mount Melville kunzea, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to a small area on the south coast of Western Australia. It is a shrub with the stems densely branched near their ends, linear leaves and one, two or three pink flowers near the ends of the branches but usually only at the top of the shrub.

Kunzea praestans is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with sessile leaves and groups of about fourteen to twenty pink flowers in more or less spherical groups on the end of the branches.

<i>Kunzea preissiana</i> Species of shrub

Kunzea preissiana is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a shrub with hairy branches and leaves, pink to mauve flowers in groups on the ends of shoots, and twenty to thirty stamens about the same length as the petals. It is a widespread, often locally common species across its range.

<i>Kunzea recurva</i> Species of shrub

Kunzea recurva is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an uncommon shrub with small leaves and groups of pink or purplish flowers on the ends of the branches.

<i>Leptospermum erubescens</i> Species of shrub

Leptospermum erubescens, commonly known as the roadside tea tree, is a species of shrub that is endemic to southwest of Western Australia. It has thin, fibrous bark, egg-shaped leaves, small white flowers and woody fruit.

Lasiopetalum indutum is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect or straggling shrub with hairy stems and pink, cream-coloured or white flowers.

References

  1. 1 2 "Verticordia habrantha". APNI. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  2. "Verticordia habrantha". APNI. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Elizabeth A. (Berndt) George; Margaret Pieroni (illustrator) (2002). Verticordia: the turner of hearts (1st ed.). Crawley, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. pp. 280–281. ISBN   1-876268-46-8.
  4. Johannes Conrad, Schauer (1844). Johann Georg Christian Lehmann (ed.). Plantae Preissianae (Volume 1). Hamburg: Sumptibus Meissneri. pp. 100–101. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  5. George, Alex (1991). "New taxa, combinations and typifications in Verticordia (Myrtaceae : Chamelaucieae)". Nuytsia. 7 (3): 231–394.
  6. 1 2 "Verticordia habrantha". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  7. Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 407. ISBN   0646402439.