Verticordia pennigera

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Native tea
Verticordia pennigera (6725202111).jpg
V. pennigera in the Western Australian Herbarium
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. pennigera
Binomial name
Verticordia pennigera

Verticordia pennigera, commonly known as native tea, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is usually a small erect or prostrate shrub with small leaves and lightly-scented spikes of pale pink to magenta-coloured flowers in spring.

Contents

Description

Verticordia pennigera is a shrub, often with a spreading habit, which grows to 8–85 cm (3–30 in) high and 10–100 cm (4–40 in) wide and which has several main stems with many short, leafy side-branches. The leaves are linear to oblong, 2–4 mm (0.08–0.2 in) long and have a covering of fine hairs. [1]

The flowers are lightly scented and arranged in spike-like groups, each flower on a stalk, 1.5–3 mm (0.06–0.1 in) long. The floral cup is top-shaped, 2–3 mm (0.08–0.1 in) long, glabrous, slightly warty and has two small green appendages. The sepals are pale pink to magenta-coloured, 3.5–4.5 mm (0.14–0.18 in) long, with 5 or 6 hairy lobes and two small ear-like appendages on the sides. The petals are similar in colour to the sepals, 3–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long and erect with short, coarse teeth along their top edge. The style is 4.5–5 mm (0.18–0.20 in) long and hairy near the tip. Flowering time is from September to December. [1]

Painting of Verticordia pennigera by Ellis Rowan Verticordia pennigera (Rowan).jpg
Painting of Verticordia pennigera by Ellis Rowan

Taxonomy and naming

Verticordia pennigera was first formally described in 1837 by Stephan Endlicher from a specimen collected near the Swan River by Charles von Hügel. The description was published in Enumeratio plantarum quas in Novae Hollandiae ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus Liber Baro de Hügel . [2] [3] In his review of the genus Verticordia in 1991, Alex George selected a lectotype from the collections of James Drummond. [4] The specific epithet (pennigera) is derived from a Latin word meaning "feather-bearer". [5]

George placed this species in subgenus Eperephes, section Verticordella along with V. halophila , 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 . [4]

Distribution and habitat

This verticordia usually grows in soils that are sandy or clay types and which are frequently gravelly or granitic. It occurs in a broad area from Kalbarri National Park to the Bremer River area [1] in the Avon Wheatbelt, Carnarvon, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee and Swan Coastal Plain biogeographic regions. [6] [7]

Conservation

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

Use in horticulture

There is a wide variety of forms of native tea in cultivation, from open shrubs with rigid stems to prostrate, bushy forms. There is also some variation in the size and colour of the flowers. Propagation is usually from cuttings. Some forms adapt well to winter rainfall areas but all do best when grown in a sunny position in well-drained soil. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Chorilaena</i> Genus of flowering plants

Chorilaena quercifolia, commonly known as karri oak or chorilaena, is a species of bushy shrub that is endemic to the karri forests of south-west Western Australia. It is the sole species in the genus Chorilaena. It has papery, broadly egg-shaped leaves with lobed edges and variously-coloured flowers arranged in umbels of five, the sepals and petals hairy on the outside and the stamens protruding beyond the petals.

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

Verticordia insignis is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an open, irregularly-branched shrub with small leaves and heads of relatively large pink, or white and pink flowers on the ends of the branches in spring.

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

Verticordia huegelii, commonly known as variegated featherflower, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a sometimes an erect shrub, sometimes sprawling to almost prostrate. It has linear leaves and very feathery flowers in spring. The flowers are usually cream-coloured or white, becoming pinkish and reddish or maroon as the flowers age, giving a variegated appearance to the display.

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

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<i>Eutaxia parvifolia</i> Species of legume

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

Verticordia huegelii var. huegelii, commonly known as variegated featherflower, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an upright, slender or bushy shrub, with creamish-white flowers turning pink or reddish maroon as they age, giving the plant a variegated appearance. It is similar to Verticordia huegelii var. decumbens but is more upright than that variety and lacks a lignotuber.

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

Verticordia huegelii var. decumbens, commonly known as variegated featherflower, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an almost prostrate shrub, with creamish-lemon coloured flowers turning pink then red as they age, giving the plant a variegated appearance. It is similar to Verticordia huegelii var. huegelii but has a lignotuber and a lower growth habit.

Verticordia huegelii var. tridens, commonly known as variegated featherflower, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a slender, open, sometimes straggly shrub with bright yellow flowers which age to red and then brown and differently-shaped staminodes from the other varieties of the species.

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

Leptospermum spinescens, commonly known as the spiny tea tree, is a species of spiny shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has thick, egg-shaped to elliptical leaves on a short petiole, white or greenish cream flowers, and fruit that remain in the plant for years after reaching maturity.

<i>Boronia cymosa</i> Species of flowering plant

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Hemiandra linearis, commonly known as speckled snakebush, is a species of prostrate to ascending shrub that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.

<i>Comesperma integerrimum</i> Species of plant

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<i>Goodenia fasciculata</i> Species of plant

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<i>Hibbertia perfoliata</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Kennedia carinata</i> Species of legume

Kennedia carinata is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a prostrate shrub with trifoliate leaves and reddish-purple, pea-like flowers.

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

<i>Sphaerolobium alatum</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Sphaerolobium grandiflorum</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Sphaerolobium linophyllum</i> Species of flowering plant

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Elizabeth A. (Berndt) George; Margaret Pieroni (illustrator) (2002). Verticordia: the turner of hearts (1st ed.). Crawley, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. pp. 316–318. ISBN   1-876268-46-8.
  2. "Verticordia pennigera". APNI. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  3. Endlicher, Stephan (1837). Enumeratio plantarum quas in Novae Hollandiae ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus Liber Baro de Hügel. Vienna: Apud F. Beck. p. 46. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  4. 1 2 George, Alex (1991). "New taxa, combinations and typifications in Verticordia (Myrtaceae : Chamelaucieae)". Nuytsia. 7 (3): 231–394.
  5. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 321.
  6. 1 2 "Verticordia pennigera". 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. 409. ISBN   0646402439.