Verticordia venusta

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Verticordia venusta
Vertwheatbelt2.jpg
Status DECF P3.svg
Priority Three — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
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. Pennuligera
Species:
V. venusta
Binomial name
Verticordia venusta

Verticordia venusta 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, egg-shaped leaves and spikes of pink to maroon-coloured flowers in spring and early summer.

Contents

Description

Verticordia venusta is an openly branched shrub which grows to 0.3–3 m (1–10 ft) high and wide with one main stem at the base. Its leaves are egg-shaped to elliptic and 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long. The flowers are sometimes scented and are arranged in spike-like groups, each flower on a stalk 1.5–2 mm (0.06–0.08 in) long. The flowers open in succession, the lowest first, and are pale mauve or pink to maroon, fading as they age. The floral cup is top shaped, 3 mm (0.1 in) long, ribbed, glabrous and has small green appendages. The sepals are spreading, 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long, with 8 to 13 feathery lobes. The petals are erect, almost circular in shape 4–5.5 mm (0.16–0.22 in) long and have teeth around their edges. The style is 5 mm (0.2 in) long, curved and hairy near the tip. Flowering time is from September to January. [1]

Taxonomy and naming

Verticordia venusta was first formally described by Alex George in 1991 from specimens collected south of Manmanning and the description was published in Nuytsia . [2] [3] The specific epithet (venusta) is a Latin word meaning "like Venus", "beautiful" or "lovely", [4] referring to the plant when in flower. [1]

George placed this species in subgenus Chrysoma, section Chrysoma along with V. citrella , V. endlicheriana and V. acerosa . [3]

Distribution and habitat

This verticordia occurs north-east of Perth between Mullewa, Gunyidi, Dowerin and Bencubbin in the Avon Wheatbelt and Geraldton Sandplains biogeographic regions. [5] [6] It grows in sand, sometimes with gravel or clay in heath and shrubland. [1]

Conservation

Verticordia venusta is classified as "Priority Three" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife, [5] meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat. [7]

Use in horticulture

Propagation of V. venusta from cuttings has proven difficult but it has been successfully grafted onto Chamelaucium uncinatum rootstock. It is usually slow to establish in the garden but is often hardy and has sometimes been grown in containers for several years. [1]

Related Research Articles

Verticordia forrestii, commonly known as Forrest's featherflower, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the north-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with small, egg-shaped leaves and massed displays of scented pink to red flowers in spring.

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

Verticordia citrella is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, densely-branched shrub with cylinder shaped stem leaves that differ from those near the flowers, and small yellow flowers in groups near the ends of the branches.

<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.

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

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.

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 comosa 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, broad, almost round leaves and spikes of flowers that are pale yellow, sometimes with a white or pale pink centre.

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

Verticordia dichroma is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a much-branched shrub with rounded leaves and spikes of scented, deep red and golden-coloured flowers.

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

Verticordia etheliana is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with one highly branched main stem, egg-shaped to almost round leaves and spike-like groups of bright red flowers with greenish-cream centres.

Verticordia etheliana var. etheliana is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with one highly branched main stem, egg-shaped to almost round leaves and spike-like groups of bright red flowers with greenish-cream centres. It differs from V. etheliana var. formosa in having longer leaves, and larger flowers.

<i>Verticordia fimbrilepis <span style="font-style:normal;">subsp.</span> fimbrilepis</i> Subspecies of flowering plant

Verticordia fimbrilepis subsp. fimbrilepis is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small bushy shrub with one openly branched main stem at its base, small, pointed leaves and rounded groups of pink flowers near the ends of the branches.

Verticordia fragrans, commonly known as hollyhock verticordia, 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 egg-shaped leaves and spikes of sweetly scented, pink and white flowers in spring and early summer.

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

Verticordia humilis, commonly known as small featherflower, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small shrub with leafy branches and scattered, mostly red flowers hanging loosely near the ends of the branches.

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

Verticordia inclusa is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small shrub with small, thick leaves and groups of scented, mostly white to pale pink flowers with a red centre on the ends of the branches in spring.

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 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 muelleriana 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 relatively large, egg-shaped to circular leaves and long spikes of deep maroon coloured flowers in spring and early summer.

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 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>Verticordia serrata</i> Species of flowering plant

Verticordia serrata is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a spindly or openly branched shrub with hairy, egg-shaped leaves and flowers which are golden at first, then fade to a greyish colour.

Verticordia × eurardyensis, commonly known as Eurardy magenta, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area in the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub similar to both Verticordia dichroma and Verticordia spicata which grow in the same area and is thought to be a stable hybrid between those two species. It has mostly egg-shaped leaves and spike-like groups of dark magenta-coloured flowers which fade to straw-coloured, in late spring and early summer.

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. 390–391. ISBN   1-876268-46-8.
  2. "Verticordia venusta". APNI. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  3. 1 2 George, Alex (1991). "New taxa, combinations and typifications in Verticordia (Myrtaceae : Chamelaucieae)". Nuytsia. 7 (3): 231–394.
  4. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 132.
  5. 1 2 "Verticordia venusta". 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. 411. ISBN   0646402439.
  7. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 21 September 2016.