''Grevillea asteriscosa'', commonly known as star-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 the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with widely-spreading branches, star-shaped leaves with sharply-pointed lobes, and bright red flowers.
Description
''Grevillea asteriscosa'' is a shrub with hairy, widely-spreading branches and that typically grows to a height of . Its leaves are star-shaped long and wide with three to nine sharply-pointed triangular lobes. The flowers are arranged in groups of four to ten on the ends of branchlets on a
rachis long and are bright red. 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 and the
ovary
The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...
is covered with hairs flattened against the surface. Flowering occurs from May to November and the fruit is an oblong
follicle long.
Taxonomy
''Grevillea asteriscola'' was formally described in 1904 by German botanist
Ludwig Diels
Dr. Friedrich Ludwig Emil Diels (24 September 1874 – 30 November 1945) was a German botanist.
Diels was born in Hamburg, the son of the classical scholar Hermann Alexander Diels. From 1900 to 1902 he traveled together with Ernst Georg Prit ...
in ''
'', based on plant material collected about 150 kilometres north of the
Stirling Range
The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranb ...
.
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 ...
(''asteriscosa'') means "abounding in little stars".
Distribution and habitat
Star-leaf grevillea grows in heath and scrub between
Muntadgin,
Pingaring and
Bullaring in the
Avon Wheatbelt and
Mallee biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.
Conservation status
This grevillea is listed as
Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to a population decline of at least 80% over the past 60 years due to a combination of factors such as land clearing for agriculture and roads and the invasion of weeds.
It is also listed as "
Priority Four" 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 is rare or near threatened.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15576914
asteriscosa
Eudicots of Western Australia
Proteales of Australia
Taxa named by Ludwig Diels
Plants described in 1904