Verticordia halophila

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Salt-loving featherflower
Verticordia halophila 0158.jpg
V. halophila in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne
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. Eperephes
Section: Verticordia sect. Verticordella
Species:
V. halophila
Binomial name
Verticordia halophila

Verticordia halophila, commonly known as salt-loving featherflower, or salt-loving verticordia, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, bushy shrub with small, crowded, thick leaves and spikes of red and pink flowers in spring.

Contents

Description

Verticordia halophila is a shrub which grows to 30–75 cm (10–30 in) high and 45–70 cm (20–30 in) wide and which has a few main stems with many short, leafy side-branches. The leaves on the side branches are crowded, oblong to egg-shaped, thick with a rounded end but with a short point and covered with soft hairs less than 0.1 mm (0.004 in) long. The leaves on the flowering stems are broadly egg-shaped to almost round. [2]

The flowers are scented and arranged in spike-like groups near the ends of the long flowering stems, each flower on a stalk, 0.5–1.0 mm (0.02–0.04 in) long. The floral cup is top-shaped, 2.0–2.5 mm (0.08–0.1 in) long, smooth and glabrous with 5 ribs and small bent green appendages. The sepals are pink with a white fringe, 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long, with 5 or 6 hairy lobes and two ear-shaped, hairy appendages on the sides. The petals are mauve-pink, erect, 3.5–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in), with short, coarse teeth along their top edge. The style is 5–5.5 mm (0.20–0.22 in) long, curved with short hairs near its purple tip. Flowering time is from September to December. [2]

It is distinguished from similar verticordias by its thick, crowded leaves, the serrations on the top edge of the petals, the purple-tipped style and by the saline environment in which it is found.

Taxonomy and naming

Verticordia halophila was first formally described by Alex George in 1991 and the description was published in Nuytsia . The type collection was made by Alex and Elizabeth George south of Coorow in 1985. [1] [3] The specific epithet (halophila) is "named from the Greek hals (salt) and -philus (loving), in reference to the habitat which is unusual in the genus". [3]

When Alex George reviewed the genus in 1991, he placed this species in subgenus Eperephes, section Verticordella along with V. pennigera , V. blepharophylla , V. lindleyi , V. carinata , V. attenuata , V. drummondii , V. wonganensis , V. paludosa , V. luteola , V. bifimbriata , V. tumida , V. mitodes , V. centipeda , V. auriculata , V. pholidophylla , V. spicata and V. hughanii . [3]

An isolated population recognised as a variant of this species was redescribed as Verticordia elizabethiae in 2020. [4]

Distribution and habitat

This verticordia usually grows in sand and clay on flats that are slightly saline and on the edges of salt lakes in woodland and shrubland. It is found in and near areas around Coorow, Marchagee and Lake Seabrook in the Avon Wheatbelt and Geraldton Sandplains biogeographic regions. [5] [6]

The distribution range included the Coolgardie bioregion, a population around 200 km inland, until a 2020 revision recognised it as a separate species, Verticordia elizabethiae. [4]

Conservation

Verticordia halophila is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife. [5]

Use in horticulture

Some forms of this species are being grown in cultivation and are performing well. Some are bushy shrubs which are producing honey-scented flowers from October to March, sometimes in other months. [2]

Related Research Articles

Verticordia aereiflora is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a thin but bushy shrub with small leaves and greenish-yellow flowers with red spots and red fringes on the sepals.

Verticordia attenuata is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with a single main stem, small leaves and pink to purple flowers which fade to white as they age. It usually grows in sand in areas that are wet in winter, often amongst grasses and is found in coastal areas near Bunbury.

Verticordia aurea, commonly known as buttercups is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a slender, sometimes bushy shrub with a single stem at the base, cylindrical leaves and heads of scented, golden-yellow flowers in spring.

Verticordia auriculata is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, multi-branched shrub with small leaves and spikes of pink to magenta-coloured flowers in late spring to early summer and it is widespread in the wheatbelt.

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

Verticordia blepharophylla is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, open shrub with a single main stem, leaves with hairy margins and pale to deep mauve-pink flowers and which occurs in an area between Perth and Geraldton.

Verticordia bifimbriata is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an open shrub with small leaves and spikes of pink flowers.

Verticordia crebra, commonly known as Barrens featherflower, crowded featherflower or Twertup featherflower, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a sprawling shrub with crowded, cylinder-shaped leaves with small, yellow flowers that are almost hidden by the leaves but with a style which extends well beyond the petals. The plant looks superficially like a miniature pine tree.

<i>Verticordia <span style="font-style:normal;">sect.</span> Verticordella</i> Group of flowering plants

Verticordia sect. Verticordella is one of six sections in the subgenus Eperephes. It includes eighteen species in the genus Verticordia. Plants in this section are often small, bushy shrubs with a single main stem and scented flowers. The leaves are linear, usually semi-circular in cross-section and have a hairy or irregularly toothed edge. The flowers are pink, sometimes red to purple, pale yellow or white. They have a floral cup with downward curving appendages, bracteoles which are shed when the flower opens, and sepals with fringed lobes. The petals have a fringed or toothed margin and a curved style that is hairy at the apex.

Verticordia centipeda is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with a single stem at the base, small crowded leaves and greenish-pink flowers with a silvery fringe, in spike-like groups on the ends of the branches. It is common in areas around Geraldton.

Verticordia gracilis is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a low shrub with small leaves and rounded groups of fluffy pale to deep pink flowers in late spring or early summer, following rain.

Verticordia integra, commonly known as plastic verticordia, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with only a few branches, with very thick oblong to egg-shaped leaves and heads of shiny golden-coloured flowers in late spring.

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

Verticordia laciniata is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an openly branched shrub with linear, slightly hairy leaves and heads of scented, bright yellow flowers which turn red then bronze-coloured as they age.

Verticordia luteola is a flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a more or less openly branched shrub with crowded leaves on its side branches and spikes of pale yellow or bright pink flowers which turn cream to brownish as they age. This verticordia is a summer-flowering species.

Verticordia minutiflora is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a bushy shrub with small, crowded, cylindrical leaves and groups of white to pale pink flowers in summer and autumn. As suggested by its botanical name, it has the smallest flowers of any verticordia.

Verticordia mirabilis is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in the Gibson Desert. It is a bushy, spreading shrub with its leaves mostly crowded on short side branches and with large, deep red flowers in small groups in spring.

Verticordia mitodes is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with a single, highly-branched main stem, small leaves and small spikes of magenta-coloured flowers in late spring.

Verticordia paludosa is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an openly branched shrub with small leaves and pink to magenta flowers with spreading, feathery sepals and erect, fringed petals in summer and autumn.

Verticordia pityrhops, commonly known as East Mount Barren featherflower or pine-like featherflower, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a single-stemmed shrub which is densely-branched with crowded narrow linear leaves giving the impression of a miniature pine tree. When it flowers in autumn, the shrub is completely covered with masses of very small, honey-scented, pinkish-purple flowers.

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

Verticordia tumida, commonly known as summer featherflower, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the north-west of Western Australia. It is an open shrub with very small leaves and clusters of deep pink flowers from late spring to early winter.

Verticordia elizabethiae, named as Elizabeth's featherflower, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. An endemic species of Southwest Australia, it occurs near salt lakes as an erect bushy shrub.

References

  1. 1 2 "Verticordia halophila". APNI. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Elizabeth A. (Berndt) George; Margaret Pieroni (illustrator) (2002). Verticordia: the turner of hearts (1st ed.). Crawley, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. pp. 318–320. ISBN   1-876268-46-8.
  3. 1 2 3 George, Alex (1991). "New taxa, combinations and typifications in Verticordia (Myrtaceae : Chamelaucieae)". Nuytsia. 7 (3): 231–394.
  4. 1 2 Rye, Barbara; Barrett, M. D. (2020). "A new species that's worth its salt: Verticordia elizabethiae (Myrtaceae: Chamelaucieae), a salt-tolerant rarity from semi-arid Western Australia". Nuytsia. 31: 259–262, Fig. 1.
  5. 1 2 "Verticordia halophila". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  6. Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 407. ISBN   0646402439.