''Conostylis aculeata'', commonly known as prickly conostylis, is a flowering, tufted perennial plant in the family

Haemodoraceae Haemodoraceae is a family of perennial herbaceous flowering plants with 14 genera and 102 known species. It is sometimes known as the "bloodwort family". Primarily a Southern Hemisphere family, they are found in South Africa, Australia and New ...

. It has flat leaves and yellow, hairy, tubular flowers. It is

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 the south-west of Western Australia.

Description

''Conostylis aculeata'' is a perennial tufted or multi-stemmed plant forming clumps wide and up to high. The leaves are flat, green, occasionally bluish-green, long, wide, margins usually with widely spaced spines. The flower stem is green, simple or multi-branched, long and similar length or longer than the leaves,

bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

brown or green, flexible, smooth, dry and thin. The

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 ...

is yellow on the inside and outside of the tube, hairy, long, lobes whitish inside, long, stamen upright, and borne in dense, terminal clusters. Flowering occurs from August to November.

Taxonomy and naming

''Conostylis aculeata'' was first formally described in 1810 by botanist Robert Brown and the description was published in ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a flora of Australia written by botanist Robert Brown and published in 1810. Often referred to as ''Prodromus Flora Novae ...

''.The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''aculeata'') is in reference to the prickly leaves.

Distribution and habitat

This conostylis is a widespread species from the Zuytdorp National Park to Augusta and Albany and stretching inland to Cowcowing and Narembeen. It grows in various situations including sand, heath, loam and woodlands. Inland populations prefer wetter sites. A number of subspecies are described and the names are accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

*''C. aculeata'' R.Br. subsp. ''aculeata'' *''C. aculeata'' subsp. ''bracteata'' (Lindl.) J.W.Green *''C. aculeata'' subsp. ''breviflora'' Hopper *''C. aculeata'' subsp. ''bromelioides'' (Endl.) J.W.Green *''C. aculeata'' subsp. ''cygnorum'' Hopper *''C. aculeata'' subsp. ''echinissima'' Hopper *''C. aculeata'' subsp. ''gracilis'' Hopper *''C. aculeata'' subsp. ''preissii'' (Endl.) J.W.Green *''C. aculeata'' subsp. ''rhipidion'' J.W.Green *''C. aculeata'' subsp. ''septentrionora'' Hopper *''C. aculeata'' subsp. ''spinuligera'' (Benth.) Hopper - Spiny Conostylis

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5162339

aculeata Aculeata is a subclade of Hymenoptera containing ants, bees, and stinging wasps. The name is a reference to the defining feature of the group, which is the modification of the ovipositor into a stinger. However, many members of the group cannot ...

Commelinales of Australia Angiosperms of Western Australia Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)