''Grevillea obtecta'', commonly known as Fryerstown grevillea, Elphinstone grevillea or Taradale 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
Victoria in Australia. It is a prostrate, clumping or straggling shrub with
pinnatifid, pinnatipartite or toothed leaves, and toothbrush-like clusters of light green to yellowish and purplish to black flowers with a dull yellow to pink
style.
Description
''Grevillea obtecta'' is a prostrate, clumping or straggling shrub that typically grows up to high, wide and has shaggy- to woolly-hairy branchlets. The leaves are usually egg-shaped to oblong in outline, long, wide and pinatifid or pinnatipartite with 2 to 21 lobes, or toothed, the end lobes or teeth triangular to narrowly egg-shaped and sometimes sharply-pointed, long and wide. The flowers are arranged in toothbrush-like clusters on a
rachis long and are light green to yellowish on the outside and purplish to black inside with a dull yellow to pink 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. Flowering occurs from August to November and the fruit is a silky-hairy
follicle long.
Taxonomy
''Grevillea obtecta'' was first formally described in 1985 by
Bill Molyneux
William Mitchell Molyneux (born 1935) is an Australian horticulturist and author who has researched and developed many popular cultivars of Australian plants, including Banksia 'Birthday Candles', and Isopogon 'Woorikee 2000'. '' Grevillea mo ...
in the journal ''
Muelleria'' from specimens collected near
Taradale in 1977.
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 ...
(''obtecta'') means "covered over" or "protected", referring to the large
bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...
s that cover and protect the immature flowers.
Distribution and habitat
Fryerstown grevillea occurs in dry
sclerophyll
Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaf, leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is paral ...
forest between
Fryerstown and the north of
Daylesford. It is found on the south faces of gravelly slopes.
Conservation status
This species is listed as "endangered" under the Victorian Government ''
Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988
The ''Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988'', also known as the ''FFG Act'', is an act of the Victorian Government designed to protect species, genetic material and habitats, to prevent extinction and allow maximum genetic diversity within the Au ...
'' and as "Rare in Victoria" on the Department of Sustainability and Environment's ''Advisory List of Rare Or Threatened Plants In Victoria''.
References
External links
Herbarium specimen at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5607980
obtecta
Flora of Victoria (state)
Proteales of Australia
Plants described in 1985