Wahlenbergia stricta | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Campanulaceae |
Genus: | Wahlenbergia |
Species: | W. stricta |
Binomial name | |
Wahlenbergia stricta | |
Wahlenbergia stricta, the Australian bluebell, tall bluebell or austral bluebell, is an Australian wildflower from the Campanulaceae family. [1] It is considered the most commonly encountered of the Wahlenbergias. [1] It is found in all Australian states but not the Northern Territory. It is often seen growing by the side of the road, enjoying the extra runoff.
Wahlenbergia stricta is a perennial herb flowering mainly in spring or summer with pale blue bell-like flowers. [1] The leaves are long and linear, 5–70 millimetres (0.20–2.76 in) long. [1] The five-petalled flowers are erect on long, slender stems and about 6–20 millimetres (0.24–0.79 in) in diameter. [1] It forms thin, carrot shaped tubers.
Australian bluebells are generally easily propagated by division or root cutting. The seed is a very fine, black powder. It germinates readily in a few weeks and is best directly sown into tubes or cells as the seed and plant are very small and hard to separate and prick out.
There are a number of common cultivars, including various shades of blue from a saturated blue similar to #00f through to white. Various double forms are available. To maintain a cultivar propagation must be by vegetive means (division or cuttings).
Once established W. stricta is very hardy - the pot can be dried out completely and the plant reduced to a tuber, yet it will reshoot when the rain comes. It is hardy in a range of soils from sand to gravel, clay to humus.
Bluebell, Bluebells, or Bluebelle may refer to:
Gloriosa is a genus of 12 species in the plant family Colchicaceae, and includes the formerly recognised genus Littonia. They are native in tropical and southern Africa to Asia, and naturalised in Australia and the Pacific as well as being widely cultivated. The most common English names are flame lily, fire lily, gloriosa lily, glory lily, superb lily, climbing lily, and creeping lily.
Campanula is one of several genera of flowering plants in the family Campanulaceae commonly known as bellflowers. They take both their common and scientific names from the bell-shaped flowers — campanula is Latin for "little bell".
Wahlenbergia gloriosa, commonly known as royal bluebell is a perennial herb in the bluebell family Campanulaceae. It has egg-shaped leaves near the base of its stem, linear leaves higher up and usually a single purple flower with a tube-shaped base. The flower is the floral emblem of the Australian Capital Territory.
Wahlenbergia is a genus of around 260 species of flowering plants in the family Campanulaceae. Plants in this genus are perennial or annual herbs with simple leaves and blue to purple bell-shaped flowers, usually with five petals lobes. Species of Wahlenbergia are found on all continents except North America, and on some isolated islands, but the greatest diversity occurs in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Australian flowering shrub Grevillea alpina has several common names, including mountain grevillea, alpine grevillea, and cat's claws. It is not limited to alpine environments, and in fact is less common at high elevation than low. The species is variable in appearance, with five general forms described: small-flowered, Grampians, Northern Victorian, Goldfields, and Southern Hills forms. It is found in dry forests and woodlands across Victoria and into southern New South Wales. Some forms of the plant are low to the ground, and some become a spreading shrub. The flowers come in many colours, from white to green to shades of red and pink, or a pattern of several colours. The curled flowers are 1 to 3 centimetres in length. It is attractive to nectar-feeding insects and birds.
Crowea exalata, commonly known as small crowea or waxflower, is a flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in Australia. It is an attractive small shrub and is a popular garden plant. It flowers mainly from late summer to mid-winter when few others are flowering but usually has some flowers at other times of the year.
Eremophila maculata, also known as spotted emu bush or spotted fuchsia-bush, is a plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae, and is endemic to Australia. It is the most widespread of its genus in nature and probably the most frequently cultivated Eremophila. It is a spreading, often densely branched shrub with variable leaf shape and flower colour, but the other features of the flowers such as the size and shape of the parts are consistent. The inside of the flower is often, but not always, spotted.
Telopea mongaensis, commonly known as the Monga waratah or Braidwood waratah, is a shrub or small tree in the family Proteaceae. Endemic to Australia, it grows at high altitude in south eastern New South Wales, where it is often seen in moist areas at the edge of rainforest or by streams in eucalyptus forests. Growing to 6 m (20 ft) high, it has narrow green leaves 4–18 cm (1.6–7.1 in) in length, and 0.5–2 cm (0.20–0.79 in) wide. In spring bears many red flowerheads, each made up of 28 to 65 individual flowers.
Billardiera heterophylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae, known by the common name bluebell creeper. It is native to Western Australia, but is grown as an ornamental plant in appropriate climates worldwide. It can sometimes be found growing in the wild as an introduced species or garden escapee, for example in other Australian states and in California, where it is popular in landscaping. It is sometimes considered a weed.
Persoonia chamaepitys, commonly known as the prostrate- or mountain geebung, is a shrub endemic to New South Wales in eastern Australia. It has a prostrate habit, reaching only 20 cm (7.9 in) high but spreading up to 2 m (6.6 ft) across, with bright green spine-like leaves and small yellow flowers appearing in summer and autumn.
The Burrinjuck Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve on the south west slopes of New South Wales, Australia. The 5,250-hectare (13,000-acre) reserve is located adjacent to the Burrinjuck Dam, with 5,118 hectares of the reserve located on the northern side of the reservoir, and the remaining 89 hectares located on the southern side of the reservoir to the northeast of Black Andrew Nature Reserve. It includes land formerly managed as the Burrinjuck State Forest and Burrinjuck State Recreation Area.
The Black Andrew Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve located on the south west slopes of New South Wales, Australia. The 1,559-hectare (3,850-acre) reserve is situated on the southern shore of Burrinjuck Dam on the Murrumbidgee River, an important reservoir for the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.
Melaleuca citrina, the common red bottlebrush, crimson bottlebrush, or lemon bottlebrush, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to eastern Australia. Some Australian state herbaria continue to use the name Callistemon citrinus. It is a hardy and adaptable species, common in its natural habitat. It is widely cultivated, not only in Australia. It was one of the first Australian plants to be grown outside the country, having been taken to England in 1770 by Joseph Banks. Its showy red flower spikes, present over most of the year in an ideal situation, account for its popularity.
Gloriosa superba is a species of flowering plant in the family Colchicaceae. Common names include flame lily, climbing lily, creeping lily, glory lily, gloriosa lily, tiger claw, agnishikha and fire lily.
Wahlenbergia capillaris, commonly known as tufted bluebell, is a plant in the family Campanulaceae and is native to Australia and New Guinea. It is an erect perennial herb with a few to many stems and grows to a height of 50 cm (20 in). The leaves are mostly linear with a few scattered teeth on the sides and the flowers are blue, bell-shaped with five lobes and arranged in cymes. This bluebell is widespread and common, occurring in all Australian mainland states and territories.
Wahlenbergia fluminalis, commonly known as the river bluebell, is a small herbaceous plant in the family Campanulaceae native to eastern Australia.
Wahlenbergia graniticola, commonly known as the granite bluebell, is a herbaceous plant in the family Campanulaceae native to eastern Australia.
Wahlenbergia planiflora, commonly known as flat bluebell, is a small herbaceous plant in the family Campanulaceae native to eastern Australia.
Wahlenbergia capensis, commonly known as the Cape bluebell, is a plant in the family Campanulaceae and is native to the Cape Province but has been introduced to Australia. It is an annual herb with up to four greenish blue, bell-shaped flowers with spreading petal lobes.
Media related to Wahlenbergia stricta at Wikimedia Commons