''Daviesia quadrilatera'', commonly known as buggery bush,
is a species of flowering plant in the family
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 the south-west of Western Australia. It is a robust, erect,
glabrous shrub with angular branchlets, vertically flattened, sharply-pointed quadrilateral or triangular
phyllode
Phyllodes are modified petioles or leaf stems, which are leaf-like in appearance and function. In some plants, these become flattened and widened, while the leaf itself becomes reduced or vanishes altogether. Thus the phyllode comes to serve the ...
s with a sharp point on the end, and yellow to orange and red flowers.
Description
''Daviesia quadrilatera'' is a robust, erect, glabrous, more or less
glaucous
''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...
shrub that typically grows up to high and wide, and has erect branchlets. Its phyllodes are erect, vertically flattened, quadrilateral or triangular, up to long and wide and sharply pointed. The flowers are usually arranged singly in leaf axils on a
peduncle long, each flower on a
pedicel
Pedicle or pedicel may refer to:
Human anatomy
*Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures
...
long with spatula-shaped
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 about long at the base. 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 long and joined at the base, the upper two lobes joined for most of their length and the lower three triangular. The
standard petal is elliptic, long, wide, and yellow to orange with a red base. The
wings are long and red, the
keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...
about long. Flowering occurs from July to September and the fruit is an inflated, triangular
pod
Pod or POD may refer to:
Biology
* Pod (fruit), a type of fruit of a flowering plant
* Husk or pod of a legume
* Pod of whales or other marine mammals
* "-pod", a suffix meaning "foot" used in taxonomy
Electronics and computing
* Proper ort ...
long.
Taxonomy and naming
''Daviesia quadrilatera'' was first formally described in 1839 by
John Lindley
John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist.
Early years
Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...
in ''
A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony
"A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony", also known by its standard botanical abbreviation ''Sketch Veg. Swan R.'', is an 1839 article by John Lindley on the flora of the Swan River Colony. Nearly 300 new species were published in it, ...
'' from an unpublished description by
George Bentham.
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 ...
(''quadrilatera'') means "four-sided", referring to the shape of the phyllodes.
Distribution and habitat
This daviesia grows in
kwongan
Kwongan is plant community found in south-western Western Australia. The name is a Bibbelmun (Noongar) Aboriginal term of wide geographical use defined by Beard (1976) as
Kwongan has replaced other terms applied by European botanists such as ...
between
New Norcia
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
and
Dongara, and is common in the area between
Green Head,
Coorow and
Three Springs, in the
Avon Wheatbelt and
Geraldton Sandplains biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.
Conservation status
''Daviesia quadrilatera'' 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=Q15532328
quadrilatera
Eudicots of Western Australia
Plants described in 1839
Taxa named by John Lindley