Grevillea cagiana - Flickr - Kevin Thiele

''Grevillea cagiana'', commonly known as red toothbrushes, 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 an erect or spreading shrub with

simple Simple or SIMPLE may refer to: *Simplicity, the state or quality of being simple Arts and entertainment * ''Simple'' (album), by Andy Yorke, 2008, and its title track * "Simple" (Florida Georgia Line song), 2018 * "Simple", a song by Johnn ...

or divided leaves with linear lobes, and green, yellow, orange or pink flowers with red styles.

Description

''Grevillea cagiana'' is an erect or spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of . Its leaves are long and simple or divided with up to eleven erect, linear lobes long and wide with the edges rolled under, obscuring the lower surface. The flowers are arranged in toothbrush-like groups, the rachis long, the flowers green, yellow, orange or pink, 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'' ...

mostly long and the style bright orange-red to red. Flowering occurs from June to March and the fruit is a silky-hairy follicle long.

Taxonomy

''Grevillea cagiana'' was first formally described in 1986 by Donald McGillivray in his book ''New Names in Grevillea (Proteaceae)'', based on specimens collected near Kukerin in 1976. 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 ...

(''cagiana'') honours

Charles Austin Gardner Charles Austin Gardner (6 January 1896 – 24 February 1970) was an English-born Western Australian botanist. Biography Born in Lancaster, in England, on 6 January 1896, Gardner emigrated to Western Australia with his family in 1909, whe ...

, from his initials "C.A.G.".

Distribution and habitat

This grevillea grows in heathland and shrubland between Merredin, Coolgardie and the

Bremer Range Bremer may refer to: People *Bremer (surname) *Bremer Ehrler (born 1914), American politician * Bremer (born 1997), Brazilian footballer Places ;Australia *Bremer Bay, Western Australia *Bremer Marine Park *Bremer Island * Bremer River (disambigua ...

in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie,

Esperance Plains Esperance Plains, also known as Eyre Botanical District, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia on the south coast between the Avon Wheatbelt and Hampton bioregions, and bordered to the north by the Mallee region. It is a pl ...

and Mallee biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Grevillea cagiana'' is listed as "not threatened" 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 ...

and as "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It has a very wide range, its population is currently stable and there are no known major threats to the species, either current or in the near future.

References

External links

Herbarium specimen at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5607890 cagiana Proteales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Taxa named by Donald McGillivray Plants described in 1986