''Darwinia oldfieldii'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...

and 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 Western Australia. It is an erect, spreading shrub with oblong leaves and dense heads of erect, red flowers.

Description

''Darwinia oldfieldii'' is an erect, spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of . Its leaves are oblong with a blunt tip, usually less than long, with the edges curved down. The flowers are red and arranged in dense, hemispherical clusters of 10 to 12 or more, surrounded by overlapping, scaly

bract 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 ...

s that are shorter than the flowers. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are about long with small, scale-like lobes and the petals are egg-shaped and nearly long. Flowering occurs from August to November.

Taxonomy

First formally described in 1865 by George Bentham, the description was published in the '' Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany'' in 1867 from a specimen collected by

Augustus Oldfield Augustus Frederick Oldfield (1821–1887) was an English botanist and zoologist who made large collections of plant specimens in Australia. Oldfield was born on 12 January 1821 in London, England. He made botanical collections in Tasmania, the coa ...

near the Murchison River. 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 ...

(''oldfieldii'') honours the collector of the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

specimens.

Distribution and habitat

''Darwinia oldfieldii'' grows in sandy soil on sandplains and on rocky ocean ledges in the Geraldton Sandplains bioregion of western Western Australia, including in

Kalbarri National Park Kalbarri National Park is located north of Perth, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The major geographical features of the park include the Murchison River gorge which runs for nearly on the lower reaches of the Murchison River. Sp ...

Conservation status

This darwinia is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Western Australian government The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state de ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15397228 oldfieldii Endemic flora of Western Australia Myrtales of Australia Rosids of Western Australia Plants described in 1865 Taxa named by George Bentham