''Grevillea petrophiloides'', commonly known as pink pokers, rock grevillea or poker 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 the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with divided leaves, the lobes mostly linear, and cylindrical clusters of usually pink to reddish pink and bluish-grey flowers.

Description

''Grevillea petrophiloides'' is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of . Its leaves are long and divided, with three to nine lobes that are sometimes divided again, resulting in more than ten end lobes that are linear, long and wide. The flowers are arranged in clusters on the ends of sometimes branched canes held above the foliage, the clusters cylindrical on a rachis long. The flowers are usually pink to reddish pink and bluish-grey, varying with subspecies, 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 time varies with subspecies and the fruit is an oval to more or less spherical follicle long.

Taxonomy

''Grevillea petrophiloides'' was first formally described in 1848 by Carl Meissner in Johann Georg Christian Lehmann's '' Plantae Preissianae'' based on plant material collected by James Drummond in the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...

. 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 ...

(''petrophiloides'') means "''

Petrophile ''Petrophile'' is a genus of evergreen shrubs, in the family Proteaceae. The genus is endemic (ecology), endemic to Australia. Commonly known as conebushes, they typically have prickly, divided foliage and produce prominently-displayed pink, ye ...

''-like". In 1986, Donald McGillivray described three subspecies of ''G. petrophiloides'' in his book ''New Names in Grevillea (Proteaceae)'', two of which have been accepted by the Australian Plant Census, and in 2000,

Robert Owen Makinson Robert Owen Makinson (born 1956) is an Australian botanist. He has published some 65 botanical names. See also Taxa named by Robert Owen Makinson. He studied at Macquarie University, was ABLO at Kew in 1995–1996 (replacing Barry Conn Bar ...

changed to name of ''Grevillea magnifica'' subsp. ''remota'' Olde & Marriott to ''G. petrophiloides'' subsp. ''remota'' in the '' Flora of Australia'': * ''Grevillea petrophiloides'' subsp. ''magnifica'' McGill. has more than ten linear end leaf-lobes that are circular or triangular in cross-section, long and wide, mainly flowers from June to August, and has flowers with a straw-white or very pale pink style. * ''Grevillea petrophiloides'' Meisn. subsp. ''petrophiloides'' McGill. has more than ten lance-shaped or oblong leaf-lobes that are flat, circular or triangular in cross-section, long and wide, flowers in most months with a peak in August and September, and has flowers with a pink or red style. * ''Grevillea petrophiloides'' (Olde & Marriott) Makinson subsp. ''remota'' McGill. has fewer than ten linear end leaf-lobes that are circular or triangular in cross-section, long and wide, mainly flowers from June to October, and has flowers with a straw-white or very pale pink style.

Distribution and habitat

Subspecies ''magnifica'' grows on or near granite outcrops mainly between Tammin and Pantapin in the Avon Wheatbelt and Mallee bioregions, subspecies ''petrophiloides'' in shrubland or heath on sandplains between the lower Murchison River, Quairading and Hyden in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains and Mallee bioregions and subspecies ''remota'' grows on or near granite outcrops from near Varley to

Norseman The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...

in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie and Mallee bioregions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

Subspecies ''magnifica'' and ''petrophiloides'' are listed as "not threatened" but subspecies ''remota'' is classified as " Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q5238340, from2=Q51054189, from3=Q51054201, from4=Q51054212 petrophiloides Endemic flora of Western Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Proteales of Australia Taxa named by Carl Meissner Plants described in 1848