Darwinia virescens
In Kalbarri National Park
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Darwinia
Species:
D. virescens
Binomial name
Darwinia virescens
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms[1]

Genetyllis virescens Meisn.

Darwinia virescens, commonly known as Murchison darwinia,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to a small area on the west coast of Western Australia near Geraldton. It is a prostrate or low-lying shrub with crowded linear leaves and dense, hemispherical heads of green, yellow or red flowers.

Description

Darwinia virescens prostrate or low-growing shrub that typically grows to height of 5–30 cm (2.0–11.8 in) and has both short, and thick, white bark. Its leaves are linear, round or triangular in cross-section, and mostly 6–8.5 mm (0.24–0.33 in) long. The flowers are green, yellow or red and arranged in dense, hemispherical heads more than 25 mm (0.98 in) in diameter, surrounded many lance-shaped involucral bracts that are shorter than the flowers. Each flower is on a thick, top-shaped pedicel. The sepals are about 8.5 mm (0.33 in) long, joined at the base to form a tube with 5 longitudinal ribs, the lobes about 1 mm (0.039 in) long, the petals nearly 4 mm (0.16 in) long. Flowering occurs from August to December.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1857 by Carl Meissner, who gave it the name Genetyllis virescens in the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Botany.[5][6] In 1867, George Bentham changed the name to Darwinia virescens.[7][8] The specific epithet (virescens) is a Latin word meaning "growing green or verdant".[9]

Distribution and habitat

Murchison Darwinia grows in sandy heath in the Geraldton Sandplains and Yalgoo biogeographic regions of Western Australia.[2]

Conservation status

Darwinia virescens is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.[2]

Ecology

The flowers of Darwinia virescens (and of Darwinia sanguinea) are held at ground level and there is speculation that this suggests that they are pollinated by mammals.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 "Darwinia virescens". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Darwinia virescens". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. ↑ Bentham, George (1867). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 3. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 10. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  4. ↑ Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 361. ISBN 0646402439.
  5. ↑ "Genetyllis virescens". APNI. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  6. ↑ Meissner, Carl (1857). "On some new species of Chamaelauciae". Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Botany. 1: 38. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  7. ↑ "Darwinia virescens". APNI. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  8. ↑ Bentham, George (1865). "Note on the genera Darwinia, Rudge, and Bartlingia Ad.Brongn". Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Botany. 9: 179. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  9. ↑ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 383.
  10. ↑ Kubitzki, Klaus, ed. (2010). The families and genera of vascular plants sapindales, cucurbitales, myrtaceae. Heidelberg: Springer. p. 219. ISBN 9783642143977. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
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