''Adenanthos acanthophyllus'', commonly known as prickly woollybush, is a species of shrub endemic to
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
.
The shrub has a robust
habit
A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. and typically grows to a height of but can reach as high as .
[ It often has many stems arising from a ]lignotuber
A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response t ...
. The petiolate leaves are fan shaped with three segments approximately long and wide.[ The perianth is up to in length dark red or pale red-pink and green, with short and long hairs outside. The glabrous style is about with a slightly pubescent ovary.][
The broad lobes armed with spines. The leaves resemble those of members of other proteaceous genera such as '']Isopogon baxteri
''Isopogon baxteri'', commonly known as the Stirling Range coneflower, is a species of plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with wedge-shaped, often 3-lobed, toothed leaves an ...
''. It is the most northerly species of the genus ''Adenanthos'', found over disjunct from the nearest known populations of any other species.[
It is found in coastal areas of the ]Mid West
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
and Gascoyne
The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gasc ...
regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy soils.[ It is often the dominant plant in the areas where it is found.][ It is also part of the tree heath at the overlap between the South West and the Eremaean botanical provinces in the ]Shark Bay
Shark Bay (Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the ...
World Heritage Area.
Other species found in the same area include: ''Eucalyptus beardiana
''Eucalyptus beardiana'', commonly known as Beard's mallee, is a mallee that is endemic to Western Australia. It has smooth pinkish bark, narrow lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds usually in groups of nine, pale yellow flowers and ...
, ''Grevillea rogersoniana
''Grevillea rogersoniana'', commonly known as Rogerson's grevillea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to a restricted area near Shark Bay in Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with spatula-shaped leaves ...
'', ''Acacia drepanophylla
''Acacia drepanophylla'' is a tree belonging to the genus ''Acacia'' and the subgenus ''Juliflorae'' that is endemic to western Australia
Description
The tree typically grows to a height of with fissured, fibrous grey bark. It blooms from May ...
'', ''Verticordia cooloomia
''Verticordia cooloomia'', commonly known as Cooloomia verticordia, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an open, spreading shrub with large heads of sharply scented ye ...
'', ''Eucalyptus roycei
''Eucalyptus roycei'', commonly known as Shark Bay mallee, is a species of mallee or a small tree that is endemic to a small area along the Gascoyne coast of Western Australia. It has rough fibrous or flaky bark on the lower trunk, smooth greyis ...
'' and '' Hakea stenophylla''.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15571770
acanthophyllus
Eudicots of Western Australia
Plants described in 1974