''Grevillea helmsiae'', commonly known as Helms' 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 to Queensland, Australia. It is a shrub or tree with elliptic to narrowly egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base and small clusters of white to cream-coloured flowers with a green style.

Description

''Grevillea helmsiae'' is a shrub or tree that typically grows to a height of . Its leaves are elliptic to narrowly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide, the lower surface silky-hairy. The flowers are arranged in small clusters long on the ends of branches, the rachis long. The flowers are white to cream-coloured with a green style, 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'' ...

long and hairy. Flowering occurs from October to April and the fruit is a flattened elliptic follicle long.

Taxonomy

''Grevillea helmsiae'' was first formally described in 1899 by Frederick Manson Bailey in the ''Queensland Agricultural Journal'' from specimens collected near

Childers Childers is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alisa Childers (born 1975), American singer * Ambyr Childers (born 1988), American actress *Bob Childers (1946–2006), American country/folk singer-songwriter *Buddy Childers (1926– ...

by "Mrs. R. Helms". 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 ...

(''helmsiae'') honours Sabine Helms, who collected the

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specimens.

Distribution and habitat

Helms' grevillea grows on the edges of rainforest, in dry rainforest and brigalow communities in Queensland, south from

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

Conservation status

''Grevillea helmsiae'' is currently listed as Least Concern 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 ...

, because it has a relatively widespread distribution and can be locally common. Although its population is declining, it is currently not to an extent that would warrant a threatened or near-threatened category. Land clearing for agriculture, hoop pine plantations and especially infrastructure development in the southernmost part of its distribution near Brisbane are responsible for this decline, as well as competition from invasive weeds. As the species is not currently threatened and occurs within multiple protected areas, additional conservation measures are not required.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5607931 helmsiae Flora of Queensland Proteales of Australia Plants described in 1899 Taxa named by Frederick Manson Bailey