Woollybush

Last updated July 11, 2019

A single leaf of A. sericeus , showing the characters that give rise to the common name woollybush.

Closeup of a branch tip of A. cygnorum .

Woollybush, woolly bush or woolly-bush is a common name for plants of the genus Adenanthos with leaves deeply divided into long, soft, slender laciniae, often covered in a fine down of soft hairs. These properties give the leaves a soft, silky feel, in stark contrast to the sclerophyllous plants that dominate both its geographic range (southern Australia) and its taxonomic family (Proteaceae). This softness accounts for the common name.^[1]

Adenanthos is a genus of Australian native shrubs in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. Variable in habit and leaf shape, it is the only genus in the family where solitary flowers are the norm. It was discovered in 1791, and formally published by Jacques Labillardière in 1805. The type species is Adenanthos cuneatus, and 33 species are recognised. The genus is placed in subfamily Proteoideae, and is held to be most closely related to several South African genera.

Sclerophyll A type of vegetation that has hard leaves, short internodes and leaf orientation parallel or oblique to direct sunlight

Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that has hard leaves, short internodes and leaf orientation parallel or oblique to direct sunlight. The word comes from the Greek sklēros (hard) and phyllon (leaf).

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 25 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.

13 species of Adenanthos possess these properties.^[1] Many of these have common names that include the woollybush epithet. However the two species of Adenanthos that occur outside Western Australia are both woollybushes yet have common names based on the name gland flower. This suggests that the common name woollybush is exclusively a Western Australian name.^[2]

Species of woollybush include:

Adenanthos acanthophyllus (prickly woollybush)
Adenanthos argyreus (little woollybush)
Adenanthos cygnorum (woollybush, common woollybush)
Adenanthos dobagii (Fitzgerald woollybush)
Adenanthos labillardierei
Adenanthos macropodianus (Kangaroo Island gland flower)
Adenanthos meisneri (prostrate woollybush)
Adenanthos oreophilus (woollybush)
Adenanthos sericeus (woollybush, coastal woollybush, tall woollybush, Albany woollybush)
Adenanthos terminalis (yellow gland flower)
Adenanthos velutinus (velvet woollybush)
Adenanthos × cunninghamii (woollybush, Albany woollybush, prostrate woollybush)

Adenanthos acanthophyllus, commonly known as prickly woollybush, is a species of shrub endemic to Western Australia.

Adenanthos argyreus, commonly known as little woollybush, is a species of erect shrub endemic to southwest Western Australia.

Adenanthos cygnorum, commonly known as common woollybush or just woollybush, is a tall shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Western Australia, commonly occurring in the south west of the State from north of Geraldton south to Kojonup. It is very common on road verges and in disturbed areas of Perth.

Ernest Charles Nelson states that the name has been in use for a long time, and believes that it originated in the vicinity of Albany, Western Australia.^[2]

(Ernest) Charles Nelson is a botanist who specialises in the heather family, Ericaceae, especially Erica, and whose past research interests included the Proteaceae especially Adenanthos. He is the author or editor of over 24 books and more than 150 research papers. He was honorary editor of Archives of Natural History between 1999 and 2012, and was honorary editor of Heathers for 23 years until 2017.

Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, 418 km southeast of Perth, the state capital. Albany is the oldest colonial settlement in Western Australia, predating Perth and Fremantle by over two years.

Related Research Articles

<i>Adenanthos sericeus</i> species of plant

Adenanthos sericeus, commonly known as woolly bush, is a shrub native to the south coast of Western Australia. It has bright red but small and obscure flowers, and very soft, deeply divided, hairy leaves.

Albany woollybush refers to two related flowering plants in family Proteaceae, native to southwestern Australia. The plants are named after Albany, Western Australia.

Adenanthos obovatus, commonly known as basket flower, or, jugflower, is a shrub of the plant family Proteaceae endemic to Southwest Australia. Described by French naturalist Jacques Labillardière in 1805, it had first been collected by Archibald Menzies in 1791. Within the genus Adenanthos, it lies in the section Eurylaema and is most closely related to A. barbiger. A. obovatus has hybridized with A. detmoldii to produce the hybrid A. × pamela. Several common names allude to the prominent red flowers of the species. It grows as a many-stemmed spreading bush up to 1 m (3.3 ft) high, and about 1.5 m (4.9 ft) across, with fine bright green foliage. Made up of single red flowers, the inflorescences appear from April to December, and peak in spring.

Adenanthos terminalis, commonly known as gland flower, yellow gland flower or adenanthos, is a one metre tall shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is found in south eastern regions of Australia, in the states of South Australia and Victoria, and is the most widespread of the two Adenanthos species occurring outside of Western Australia.

Ernest Charles Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos was the first modern-day arrangement of that plant genus. First published in his 1978 Brunonia article "A taxonomic revision of the genus Adenanthos (Proteaceae)", it superseded the arrangement of George Bentham, which had stood for over a hundred years. It was updated by Nelson in his 1995 treatment for the Flora of Australia series of monographs.

Adenanthos cuneatus, also known as coastal jugflower, flame bush, bridle bush and sweat bush, is a shrub of the family Proteaceae native to the south coast of Western Australia. The French naturalist Jacques Labillardière originally described it in 1805. Within the genus Adenanthos, it lies in the section Adenanthos and is most closely related to A. stictus. A. cuneatus has hybridized with four other species of Adenanthos. Growing to 2 m high and wide, it is erect to prostrate in habit, with wedge-shaped lobed leaves covered in fine silvery hair. The single red flowers are insignificant, and appear all year, though especially in late spring. The reddish new growth occurs over the summer.

Adenanthos macropodianus, commonly known as gland flower, or Kangaroo Island gland flower, is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Kangaroo Island in South Australia. First published as a variety of A. sericeus in 1870, it was promoted to species rank in 1978.

Adenanthos cacomorphus is a small shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is found in South West Western Australia.

Adenanthos meisneri, commonly known as prostrate woollybush, is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.

Adenanthos × cunninghamii, commonly known as woollybush, Albany woollybush or prostrate woollybush, is a hybrid shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.

Adenanthos dobagii, commonly known as Fitzgerald woollybush, is a shrub in the family Proteaceae. It grows to a mere 50 cm high, with crowded small silvery leaves and insignificant pink or cream flowers. It occurs only in southwestern Australia, where it is found in Fitzgerald River National Park on the south coast.

Adenanthos eyrei is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. Restricted to a single cliff-top dune system on the remote south coast of Western Australia, it is listed as rare and endangered. It was discovered by E. Charles Nelson in 1973, and formally described and named in 1978.

George Bentham's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos was the first comprehensive taxonomic arrangement of that plant genus. It was published in 1870 in his landmark flora of Australia, Flora Australiensis. It would stand for over a hundred years before being superseded by the 1978 arrangement of Ernest Charles Nelson.

Adenanthos glabrescens is a species of small shrub endemic to the Ravensthorpe area in southwest Western Australia. First published in 1978, there are two subspecies.

Adenanthos labillardierei is a species of erect shrub endemic to the slopes of the Barren Ranges in the Fitzgerald River National Park in southwest Western Australia.

Adenanthos oreophilus, commonly known as woollybush, is a species of tall shrub endemic to southwest Western Australia. It is closely related to the better known A. sericeus, and was only classified as a species distinct from the latter in 1978 by Irish botanist E. Charles Nelson.

Adenanthos sericeus subsp. sericeus, commonly known as coastal woollybush, is a shrub native to the south coast of Western Australia. It has bright red but small and obscure flowers, and very soft, deeply divided, hairy leaves. It is the western subspecies of Adenanthos sericeus, occurring mostly in the vicinity of King George Sound.

References

1 2 George, Alex (1984). An introduction to the Proteaceae of Western Australia. Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press. p. 5. ISBN 0-86417-005-X. Thirteen species of Adenanthos have leaves divided into several slender terete lobes which are usually hirsute and, for Western Australian plants, quite soft, hence their common name 'Woollybush'.
1 2 Nelson, E. Charles (2005). "The koala plant and related monickers" (PDF). Australian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter (125): 2–3. Retrieved 2010-04-17.

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[George_1984-1] 1 2 George, Alex (1984). An introduction to the Proteaceae of Western Australia. Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press. p. 5. ISBN 0-86417-005-X. Thirteen species of Adenanthos have leaves divided into several slender terete lobes which are usually hirsute and, for Western Australian plants, quite soft, hence their common name 'Woollybush'.

[Nelson_2005-2] 1 2 Nelson, E. Charles (2005). "The koala plant and related monickers" (PDF). Australian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter (125): 2–3. Retrieved 2010-04-17.