''Adenanthos obovatus'', commonly known as basket flower (which usually refers to ''
Centaurea
''Centaurea'' () is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding reg ...
'', though), or, jugflower, is a shrub of the
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Proteaceae
The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Pro ...
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to
Southwest Australia
Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna.
The region is also known as the Southwest Aus ...
. Described by French naturalist
Jacques Labillardière
Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the Jean-François de Galaup, comte ...
in 1805, it had first been collected by
Archibald Menzies
Archibald Menzies ( ; 15 March 1754 – 15 February 1842) was a Scottish surgeon, botanist and naturalist. He spent many years at sea, serving with the Royal Navy, private merchants, and the Vancouver Expedition. He was the first recorded Euro ...
in 1791. Within the genus ''
Adenanthos
''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 publ ...
'', it lies in the
section
Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea
* Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents
** Section sign ...
''
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 high, and about across, with fine bright green foliage. Made up of single red flowers, the
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
s appear from April to December, and peak in spring (August to October).
The shrub grows on sandy soils in seasonally wet lowland areas as well as hills and dunes. It regenerates after bushfire by resprouting from its underground
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 ...
. Pollinators include
honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family (biology), family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Epthianura, Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, Manorina, miners and melidectes. They are ...
s, particularly the
western spinebill
The western spinebill (''Acanthorhynchus superciliosus'') is a honeyeater found in the heath and woodland of south-western Australia. Ranging between long, it weighs around . It has a black head, gray back and wings, with a red band behind its ...
, which can access the nectar with its long curved bill, and the
silvereye
The silvereye or wax-eye (''Zosterops lateralis'') is a very small omnivorous passerine bird of the south-west Pacific. In Australia and New Zealand its common name is sometimes white-eye, but this name is more commonly used to refer to all membe ...
, which punctures the flower tube. The most commonly cultivated ''Adenanthos'' species in Australia, it has a long flowering period and attracts honeyeaters to the garden. It is harvested for the
cut flower industry
Cut flowers are flowers or flower buds (often with some stem and leaf) that have been cut from the plant bearing it. It is usually removed from the plant for decorative use. Typical uses are in vase displays, wreaths and garlands. Many gardener ...
.
Description
The
growth habit
Habit, equivalent to habitus in some applications in biology, refers variously to aspects of behaviour or structure, as follows:
*In zoology (particularly in ethology), habit usually refers to aspects of more or less predictable ''behaviour'', i ...
of ''Adenanthos obovatus'' is that of a
lignotuberous shrub, with many stems arising from a single underground lignotuber. It typically reaches about in height, and about 1.5 m in width, but plants occasionally reach a height of .
[Nelson (1978): 329.]
The leaves of this species are bright green, oval in shape, up to long and wide,
sessile
Sessility, or sessile, may refer to:
* Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about
* Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant
* Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...
, and arranged in a spiral pattern on the branches.
The flowers appear steadily between April and December, and are most frequent between August and October.
They are red or orange, and emerge from the leaf
axil
A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...
s. They are usually solitary, but occasionally an axil will carry two flowers. As with other
Proteaceae
The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Pro ...
species, each flower consists of a
perianth
The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepals when ...
of four united
tepal
A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...
s, and a single
style
Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to:
* Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable
* Design, the process of creating something
* Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...
. In ''A. obovatus'', the perianth is around long, and the style around .
Although the flowering period is lengthy (six months), there are generally only a few flowers at any one time, and a seven-year study at Harry Waring Marsupial Reserve south of Perth revealed fairly constant flowering from year to year, even when shrubs were cut back to ground level to simulate a
bushfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...
.
[
The species is very similar to '' A. barbiger''. There are obvious differences in typical leaf shape, with leaves of most populations of ''A. barbiger'' being very much longer and narrower than those of ''A. obovatus''. However, leaf shape is variable in both species, and some southern populations of ''A. barbiger'' have leaves that are indistinguishable from those of ''A. obovatus''. The most systematically important properties by which the two may be distinguished are the shape of the perianth limb, which is rounded in ''A. obovatus'' and pointed in ''A. barbiger''; the bracts, ]glabrous
Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...
versus hirsute
Hirsutism is excessive body hair on parts of the body where hair is normally absent or minimal. The word is from early 17th century: from Latin ''hirsutus'' meaning "hairy". It usually refers to a "male" pattern of hair growth in a female that ...
; and the style-ends, which are green and scarlet respectively. The species also differ slightly in range of flower colours: ''A. barbiger'' has scarlet to bright red flowers, whereas ''A. obovatus'' flowers are scarlet to orange.[Nelson (1975b): 135.]
Taxonomy
Discovery and naming
The first known botanical specimen collection of ''A. obovatus'' was made by Scottish surgeon and naturalist Archibald Menzies
Archibald Menzies ( ; 15 March 1754 – 15 February 1842) was a Scottish surgeon, botanist and naturalist. He spent many years at sea, serving with the Royal Navy, private merchants, and the Vancouver Expedition. He was the first recorded Euro ...
during the visit of the Vancouver Expedition
The Vancouver Expedition (1791–1795) was a four-and-a-half-year voyage of exploration and diplomacy, commanded by Captain George Vancouver of the Royal Navy. The British expedition circumnavigated the globe and made contact with five continen ...
to King George Sound
King George Sound ( nys , Menang Koort) is a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came into use ...
in September and October 1791. However, this collection did not result in publication of the species. Other early collections include a specimen collected by Scottish botanist Robert Brown during the visit of HMS ''Investigator'' to King George Sound
King George Sound ( nys , Menang Koort) is a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came into use ...
in December 1801 and January 1802; and, thirteen months later, King George Sound specimens collected by Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour
Jean-Baptiste Louis Claude Théodore Leschenault de La Tour (13 November 1773 – 14 March 1826) was a French botanist and ornithologist.
Born at the family seat (since 1718), Le Villard, near Chalon-sur-Saône, Leschenault de la Tour arrived in ...
, botanist to Nicolas Baudin
Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific.
Biography
Early career
Born a comm ...
's voyage of exploration,[Nelson (1975a): 332.] and "gardener's boy" Antoine Guichenot. In his notes on vegetation published in the official account of the expedition, Leschenault writes:
The species with rounded leaves was ''A. obovatus''.[Nelson (1975b) 1: 27.]
A description of the species was published by Jacques Labillardière
Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the Jean-François de Galaup, comte ...
in his 1805 ''Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen
''Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen'' is a two-volume work describing the flora of Australia. Facsimiles of the originals can be found in the onlinBiodiversity Heritage Library (Vol.1)anVol 2)
The author was the French botanist Jacques Labillar ...
'', accompanied by a figure drawn by Pierre Antoine Poiteau
Pierre-Antoine Poiteau (23 March 1766 Âmbleny – 27 February 1854) was a French botanist, gardener and botanical artist.
Biography
He was born in Ambleny, France. After having worked in kitchen gardens and for the Parisian market gardeners ...
and engraved by Auguste Plée.[Nelson (1975b) 1: 41.] Labillardière chose the specific name ''obovata'', in reference to the leaves of his specimen, which were obovate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...
(egg-shaped, with the narrow end at the base).[Nelson (1978): 331.][Nelson (1975b) 2: A38.] This leaf shape is often seen in this species. The term ''obovata'' derives from the Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''ob-'' ("inverse") and ''ovum'' ("egg"),[Wrigley (1991): 70.] and has feminine gender
In linguistics, grammatical gender system is a specific form of noun class system, where nouns are assigned with gender categories that are often not related to their real-world qualities. In languages with grammatical gender, most or all nouns ...
, consistent with the gender assigned by Labillardière to the genus.[Nelson (1978): 320.]
Labillardière did not acknowledge any collector, and so it was long thought that Labillardière himself had collected the first botanical specimens in 1792 while naturalist to Bruni d'Entrecasteaux
Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni, chevalier d'Entrecasteaux () (8 November 1737 – 21 July 1793) was a French naval officer, explorer and colonial governor. He is perhaps best known for his exploration of the Australian coast in 1792, while ...
's expedition in search of the lost ships of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
Jean-François is a French given name. Notable people bearing the given name include:
* Jean-François Carenco (born 1952), French politician
* Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832), French Egyptologist
* Jean-François Clervoy (born 1958), Fr ...
. However, this and eight other species described by Labillardière do not occur in any locations that he visited, suggesting that he obtained specimens from someone else whom he failed to credit. Though he did not specify a type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...
for ''A. obovata'', a specimen upon which the accompanying figure in ''Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen'' appears to be based has been located; it is annotated, apparently in Labillardière's hand, as having been collected by Leschenault. Ernest Charles Nelson
(Ernest) Charles Nelson (15 September 1951, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a botanist who specialises in the heather family, Ericaceae, especially ''Erica'', and whose past research interests included the Proteaceae especially '' Adenanthos''. H ...
states with certainty that Labillardière based this species on specimens collected by Leschenault,[Nelson (1978): 331. "Labillardière could not have collected this species himself in Western Australia (''terra van-Leuwin''). The type material was collected by Leschenault de la Tour, and passed to Labillardière who used that material for the type description."] and this view has been accepted by some scholars though others treat it more cautiously.
Infrageneric placement
In 1870, George Bentham
George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...
published the first infrageneric arrangement of ''Adenanthos'' in Volume 5 of his landmark ''Flora Australiensis
''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume flora of Australia published be ...
''. Bentham divided the genus into two section
Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea
* Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents
** Section sign ...
s, placing ''A. obovata'' in ''A.'' sect. ''Eurylaema'', defined as containing those species with one sterile
Sterile or sterility may refer to:
*Asepsis, a state of being free from biological contaminants
* Sterile (archaeology), a sediment deposit which contains no evidence of human activity
*Sterilization (microbiology), any process that eliminates or ...
stamen
The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...
, and perianth tubes that are curved and swollen above the middle.
A phenetic
In biology, phenetics ( el, phainein – to appear) , also known as taximetrics, is an attempt to classify organisms based on overall similarity, usually in morphology or other observable traits, regardless of their phylogeny or evolutionary rel ...
analysis of the genus undertaken by Ernest Charles Nelson
(Ernest) Charles Nelson (15 September 1951, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a botanist who specialises in the heather family, Ericaceae, especially ''Erica'', and whose past research interests included the Proteaceae especially '' Adenanthos''. H ...
in 1975 yielded results in which the members of ''A.'' sect. ''Eurylaema'' occurred together, with ''A. obovata'' appearing most closely related to ''A. barbigera'' (now ''A. barbiger''), and then '' A. detmoldii''.[Nelson (1975b) 1: 130.] ''A. obovata'' was therefore retained in ''A.'' sect. ''Eurylaema'' in Ernest Charles Nelson
(Ernest) Charles Nelson (15 September 1951, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a botanist who specialises in the heather family, Ericaceae, especially ''Erica'', and whose past research interests included the Proteaceae especially '' Adenanthos''. H ...
's 1978 revision of ''Adenanthos'',[Nelson (1978): 321] and again in his 1995 treatment of the genus for the ''Flora of Australia
The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 30,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwana, ...
'' series. By this time, the ICBN
The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "trad ...
had issued a ruling that all genera ending in ''-anthos'' must be treated as having masculine gender
In linguistics, grammatical gender system is a specific form of noun class system, where nouns are assigned with gender categories that are often not related to their real-world qualities. In languages with grammatical gender, most or all nouns ...
. Hence the species is now known as ''Adenanthos obovatus''.[Nelson (1995): 324.] Its placement in Nelson's arrangement of ''Adenanthos'' may be summarised as follows:
:''Adenanthos
''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 publ ...
''
:: ''A.'' sect. ''Eurylaema''
:::'' A. detmoldii''
:::'' A. barbiger''
:::''A. obovatus''
:::'' A. × pamela''
:: ''A.'' sect. ''Adenanthos'' (29 species, 8 subspecies)
Hybrids
''Adenanthos obovatus'' hybridises with '' A. detmoldii'' to produce ''A.'' × ''pamela''. Known only from road verges in the Scott River
The Scott River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 9, 2011 river in Siskiyou County, California, United States. It is a tributary of the Klamath River, one of the ...
region, it was first discovered in 1979, and it is now known from more than twenty individual plants. The discovery of it in such large numbers, together with its recognised horticultural potential, prompted Nelson to formally describe and name it in 1986. Morphologically it is intermediate between its parents; that is, taller than ''A. obovatus'', with longer leaves and light red flowers. It is fertile, raising the possibility of the establishment of a hybrid swarm
A hybrid swarm is a population of hybrids that has survived beyond the initial hybrid generation, with interbreeding between hybrid individuals and backcrossing with its parent types. Such population are highly variable, with the genetic and phe ...
.
It is also possible that ''A. obovatus'' infrequently hybridises with '' A. barbiger'': in 1921, Carl Hansen Ostenfeld
Carl Emil Hansen Ostenfeld (born Carl Emil Ostenfeld-Hansen) (3 August 1873 – 16 January 1931) was a Danish systematic botanist. He graduated from the University of Copenhagen under professor Eugenius Warming. He was a keeper at the Botan ...
described ''A. intermedia'' (now ''A. intermedius''), based on specimens found near Ngilgi Cave
Ngilgi Cave, previously known as Yallingup Cave, is a karst cave to the northeast of Yallingup, in the southwest of Western Australia.
In many sections of the cave a red layer of soil can be seen; this is called paleosol.
Discovery
The loc ...
at Yallingup with leaf shape intermediate between these two species. The new species was rejected in 1924 by Charles Gardner, and again in the 1970s by Nelson, who argued that leaf shape is inappropriate grounds for erecting a new species in this context, and that, in terms of systematically important characteristics, ''A. intermedius'' is indistinguishable from ''A. barbiger''. He therefore synonymized ''A. intermedius'' with ''A. barbiger'', but noted the possibility that ''A. intermedius'' is of hybrid origin.[Nelson (1978): 329, 393.][Nelson (1975b) 1: 137.] Recently, however, a specimen collected by Greg Keighery was held to represent a new species, provisionally named "''A. barbiger'' subsp. ''intermedius'' (Ostenf.) Keighery ms" (later revised to "''Adenanthos'' sp. Whicher Range (G.J. Keighery 9736)"), suggesting that Keighery, at least, does not consider ''A. intermedius'' to be of hybrid origin.
Common names
Common names for this species include ''basket flower'', ''glandflower'', ''jugflower'' and ''stick-in-the-jug''. In the King George Sound vicinity the Aboriginal name ''Cheeuk'' is sometimes used.
Distribution and habitat
Abundant and widespread, ''A. obovatus'' occurs on a wide range of soils, favouring soils in the acidic pH range 3.9–5.4. Like most ''Adenanthos'' species it is common on deeply leached siliceous
Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one ...
sandplain
A sandplain is an area where the soil is sand deposited from elsewhere by processes such as wind or ocean, rather than direct weathering of bedrock.
Sandplains are quite flat. There may be dune systems, and given time and the right conditions the ...
sand. It also occurs on gravelly quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
sand derived from rock outcrop
An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth.
Features
Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial ...
s, such as on the rocky hillslopes of the Stirling Range
The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranb ...
. It is rarely found on gravelly lateritic
Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...
soils. It is also one of the few ''Adenanthos'' species to grow well in moist environments; it will not tolerate seasonal waterlogging—that niche is filled by '' A. detmoldii''—but thrives in damp soils not subject to waterlogging.[Nelson (1975b) 1: 253, 257.]
Consistent with these edaphic
Edaphology (from Greek , ''edaphos'', "ground",, ''-logia'') is concerned with the influence of soils on living beings, particularly plants.
It is one of two main divisions of soil science, the other being pedology. Edaphology includes the study ...
preferences, ''A. obovatus'' is widespread and common in the scrub and heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
commonly found on the sandplains of Southwest Australia
Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna.
The region is also known as the Southwest Aus ...
, and is also common in the sedgelands that develop in moister areas of the region. It is uncommon in forest or woodland areas, because these are usually associated with lateritic soils; but it may be found in stands of jarrah
''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, djarraly in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with roug ...
or marri forest where these grow in laterite-free sand. The climate in its range is mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
, with annual rainfall from .
The species occurs in coastal regions of Southwest Australia
Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna.
The region is also known as the Southwest Aus ...
, from Gingin and Muchea north of Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
south to Augusta and east along the south coast to Green Range
Green Range is a locality in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia.
Demographics
As of the 2021 Australian census, 62 people resided in Green Range, down from 66 in the . The median
In statistics and probability theory, the median ...
, east of Albany. It also occurs in the Stirling Range
The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranb ...
, a possible disjunction
In logic, disjunction is a logical connective typically notated as \lor and read aloud as "or". For instance, the English language sentence "it is raining or it is snowing" can be represented in logic using the disjunctive formula R \lor S ...
; and at Narrogin, a certain and substantial disjunction.[Nelson (1978): 330.] Nelson tentatively explains these disjunct populations in terms of natural climate fluctuations: during times of higher rainfall, the distribution of ''A. obovatus'' would have been much more extensive. Reductions in rainfall would cause the distribution to contract, but isolated populations could survive in favourable refugia.[Nelson (1975b) 1: 313–314.]
Ecology
The western spinebill
The western spinebill (''Acanthorhynchus superciliosus'') is a honeyeater found in the heath and woodland of south-western Australia. Ranging between long, it weighs around . It has a black head, gray back and wings, with a red band behind its ...
(''Acanthorhynchus superciliosus'') is the most frequent visitor to the flowers. A territorial species, the territories are smaller when they contain more ''Adenanthos obovatus'' bushes. Their long curved bills fit the tube-like flowers exactly, so that the pollen-presenter brushes against the spinebill's head while it is probing for nectar. The birds then carry pollen from plant to plant, fertilising other plants. A field study marking the pollen with fluorescent dye found that pollen could be deposited on flowers of plants up to away from the original flower visited. The New Holland honeyeater
The New Holland honeyeater (''Phylidonyris novaehollandiae'') is a honeyeater species found throughout southern Australia. It was among the first birds to be scientifically described in Australia, and was initially named ''Certhia novaehollandi ...
(''Phylidonyris novaehollandiae'') and brown honeyeater
The brown honeyeater (''Lichmera indistincta'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It belongs to the honeyeaters, a group of birds which have highly developed brush-tipped tongues adapted for nectar feeding. Honeyeaters are found ...
(''Lichmera indistincta'') have also been recorded with pollen from ''A. obovatus''. The silvereye
The silvereye or wax-eye (''Zosterops lateralis'') is a very small omnivorous passerine bird of the south-west Pacific. In Australia and New Zealand its common name is sometimes white-eye, but this name is more commonly used to refer to all membe ...
(''Zosterops lateralis'') drinks nectar from the flowers, but punctures the tube with its short bill. Larger honeyeaters in one field study tended to avoid ''A. obovatus'', possibly seeking sources of more abundant nectar elsewhere. These species are too heavy for the fine branches and their bills are too large for the tubes.
''Adenanthos obovatus'' has been recorded as a source of nectar for the honey possum
The honey possum or noolbenger (''Tarsipes rostratus''), is a tiny species of marsupial that feeds on the nectar and pollen of a diverse range of flowering plants. Found in southwest Australia, it is an important pollinator for such plants as '' ...
(''Tarsipes rostratus'') in winter and spring (early June to September), from field studies in the Scott National Park
Scott National Park is a national park in the South West (Western Australia), South West region of Western Australia, south of Perth.
It is based on the catchment area of the Scott River (Western Australia), Scott River and the eastern bank of ...
, replaced by '' A. meisneri'' in late spring and summer (late October to February).
''Adenanthos obovatus'' is highly susceptible to dieback caused by the water mould ''Phytophthora cinnamomi
''Phytophthora cinnamomi'' is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants variously called "root rot", "dieback", or (in certain '' Castanea'' species), "ink disease". The plant pathogen is one of the wo ...
''. Specimens in coastal dune vegetation were reported killed by the fungus ''Armillaria luteobubalina
''Armillaria luteobubalina'', commonly known as the Australian honey fungus, is a species of mushroom in the family Physalacriaceae. Widely distributed in southern Australia, the fungus is responsible for a disease known as ''Armillaria'' root ...
'', with mycelial sheaths of the fungus beneath the bark of the root collar.
Cultivation
Described by Ken Newbey as "an outstanding ornamental species with average foliage and very attractive in flower", ''A. obovatus'' was first grown in Great Britain in 1824, and is the most commonly cultivated ''Adenanthos'' species in Australia. It flowers for most of the year, is an excellent attractor of honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family (biology), family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Epthianura, Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, Manorina, miners and melidectes. They are ...
s, and grows in a range of climates. Propagation is by cuttings of the current season's growth, from which it strikes readily, and subsequently makes fairly quick growth. Despite its natural occurrence in damp locations, in cultivation it grows best in a light, well-drained soil. It prefers a sunny aspect. Regular hard pruning is recommended to maintain an attractive form. Wildflowers of this species are harvested by licensed pickers in the cut flower industry
Cut flowers are flowers or flower buds (often with some stem and leaf) that have been cut from the plant bearing it. It is usually removed from the plant for decorative use. Typical uses are in vase displays, wreaths and garlands. Many gardener ...
, for sale in both local and export markets. The long, curved stems with flowers in the leaf axils have been described as "excellent for picking".
Footnotes
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obovatus
Eudicots of Western Australia
Garden plants of Australia
Plants described in 1805