''Grevillea aspera'', commonly known as the rough grevillea, is a species of flowering plant in the family

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 ...

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 Australia, occurring mainly in South Australia. It is low, spreading to erect shrub with oblong to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and pinkish to red and cream-coloured, green, yellow or white flowers.

Description

''Grevillea aspera'' is a low, spreading to erect shrub that typically grows to a height of and has woolly-hairy branchlets. The leaves are oblong to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide and hairy on the lower surface. The flowers are arranged in large groups in leaf axils and on the ends of branchlets on a rachis 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. The lower half of 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 pinkish to red, the outer half cream-coloured, green, yellow or white and the

pistil Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

is long. Flowering occurs from May to November and the fruit is a narrow oval follicle long.

Taxonomy

''Grevillea aspera'' was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in '' Transactions of the Linnean Society of London''. 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 ...

(''aspera'') means "rough to the touch".

Distribution and habitat

Rough grevillea grows in heath, scrub and woodland in the

Gawler Range The Gawler Ranges are a range of stoney hills in South Australia to the north of Eyre Peninsula. The Eyre Highway skirts the south of the ranges. The Gawler Ranges National Park is in the ranges north of Kimba, South Australia, Kimba and Wudinna ...

, parts of the

Flinders Range The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhabited ...

and the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named aft ...

in South Australia. In Western Australia it is only known from the

Rawlinson Range Rawlinson Range is a mountain range in north-eastern Papua New Guinea. The range was named after Sir Henry Rawlinson Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, KLS (5 April 1810 – 5 March 1895) was a British East India Company army ...

in the far east of the state.

Conservation status

In Western Australia, ''G. aspera'' is listed as " Priority One" by the Government of Western Australia

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 ...

, meaning that it is known from only one or a few locations which are potentially at risk. In South Australia, it is listed as "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is described as being a reasonably common species with typically stable populations. It is not listed on the EPBC Act List of Threatened Flora.

Notes

:A. Both the Western Australian Government and IUCN Red List statuses represent different isolated populations of the species, the first being Western Australia's population and the latter being the South Australian population.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13550439 aspera Proteales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Flora of South Australia Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773) Plants described in 1810