''Grevillea humifusa'', commonly known as spreading 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 a restricted area of the south-west of Western Australia. It is a prostrate shrub with long, trailing stems, divided lives with linear lobes and clusters of pink to pale red and cream-coloured flowers with a reddish, yellow-tipped style.

Description

''Grevillea humifusa'' is a prostrate shrub with trailing stems typically up to long, its branchlets with long, soft hairs. Its leaves are divided, long with linear lobes long and about wide, the edges rolled under. The flowers are arranged in clusters of twelve to thirty on a silky-to woolly-hairy rachis long. The flowers are pink to pale red and cream-coloured, the style pink, red or orange with a yellow tip, 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. Flowering occurs from September to November and the fruit is an oblong follicle long.

Taxonomy

''Grevillea humifusa'' was first formally described in 1994 by

Peter M. Olde Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and

Neil R. Marriott Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. A ...

in ''The Grevillea Book'', from specimens collected by Olde near Eneabba in 1991. 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 ...

(''humifusa'') means "

procumbent This page provides a glossary of plant morphology. Botanists and other biologists who study plant morphology use a number of different terms to classify and identify plant organs and parts that can be observed using no more than a handheld magnify ...

Distribution and habitat

Spreading grevillea is only known from a single population of about 1500 plants near Eneabba, where it grows in disturbed, open low woodland with ''

Kennedia prostrata ''Kennedia prostrata'', commonly known as running postman, scarlet coral pea or scarlet runner, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a prostrate or twining shrub with Glossary of leaf morpholog ...

'', species of '' Jacksonia'', and ''

Dianella revoluta ''Dianella revoluta'', commonly known as blueberry lily, blue flax-lily, or black-anther flax-lily, a species of flowering plant in the family Asphodelaceae and is endemic to, and widespread in Australia. It is a tufted, perennial herb with gras ...

''. The land that the 1500 plants are found on comprises private pasture and adjoining road reserves.

Conservation status

''Grevillea humifusa'' is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' and as "

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...

" by the Western Australian Government

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 in danger of extinction.

Use in horticulture

''Grevillea humifusa'' is cultivated as an ornamental plant and features dense, silvery-grey foliage contrasting with the flowers. It can be grown in most well-drained soil and is drought- and frost-tolerant.

References