''Grevillea aspleniifolia'', also known as fern leaf 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 eastern New South Wales. It is a spreading shrub with linear to narrowly egg-shaped leaves and purplish flowers.

Description

''Grevillea aspleniifolia'' is a spreading shrub that typically grows to high and up to wide. The leaves are linear to narrowly egg-shaped, long and wide with irregular serrations and a woolly-hairy lower surface, the edges turned down or rolled under. The flowers are arranged in toothbrush-like

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s along a rachis usually long, and are purplish with grey or white hairs. 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 mostly long and the style has a green tip. Flowering mainly occurs from July to November and the fruits is a hairy follicle long.

Taxonomy

''Grevillea aspleniifolia'' was first formally described in 1809 by Joseph Knight in ''

On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae ''On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae'' is an 1809 paper on the family Proteaceae of flowering plants. Although nominally written by Joseph Knight as a paper on cultivation techniques, all but 13 pages con ...

''. 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 ...

(''aspleniifolia'') means ' Asplenium''-leaved".

Distribution and habitat

This grevillea grows in woodland on sandstone or shale in the catchments of the Warragamba Dam and Woronora River, and near

Bungonia Caves Bungonia Caves are a series of caves near the city of Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia. Overview The caves are sited within the Bungonia State Conservation Area adjoining the Morton National Park, about east of Goulburn and about south-w ...

, in eastern New South Wales.

Use in horticulture

''Grevillea aspleniifolia'' is reported to be a hardy, fast-growing plant that tolerates heavy soil as long as the soil is well-drained. A sunny position is preferred.

Conservation status

This species is listed as "Near Threatened" on the

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

. It has a restricted distribution and a naturally severely fragmented population, where it occurs in several small, isolated subpopulations. Threats to this species include damage and/or grazing by introduced deer and changed fire regimes.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2710353 aspleniifolia Flora of New South Wales Proteales of Australia Garden plants of Australia Plants described in 1809