''Grevillea polybractea'', commonly known as crimson 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 the southeast of continental Australia. It is a spreading shrub with linear to narrowly oblong or narrowly elliptic leaves and pink to red and yellow or green flowers.

Description

''Grevillea polybractea'' is a spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of and has many branches. Its leaves are linear to narrowly oblong or narrowly elliptic, long and wide, the edges rolled under, sometimes obscuring the lower surface which is otherwise hairy. The flowers are arranged in downturned, more or less spherical clusters of 10 to 20 flowers on a rachis long with many egg-shaped

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 long. The flowers are pink to red and yellow or green with a reddish 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 October to December and the fruit is a hairy follicle long.

Taxonomy

''Grevillea polybractea'' was first formally described in 1927 by

Herbert Bennett Williamson Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, ...

in ''

The Victorian Naturalist ''The Victorian Naturalist'' is a bimonthly scientific journal covering natural history, especially of Australia. It is published by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria and is received as part of the membership subscription of that club. From ...

''. 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 ...

(''polybractea'') means "many bracts".

Distribution and habitat

Crimson grevillea grows in forest with a scrubby understorey, and occurs south of

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

and west of Khancoban in New South Wales, and between

Corryong Corryong is a small town in Victoria, Australia east of Albury-Wodonga, near the upper reaches of the Murray River and close to the New South Wales border. At the , Corryong had a population of 1,348. The post office opened on 1 February 18 ...

and Mount Granya in far north-eastern Victoria.

Conservation status

This grevillea 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 The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) was a state government department that managed water resources, climate change, bushfires, public land, forests and eco systems in the state of Victoria, Australia. It was created in 2002 whe ...

's ''Advisory List of Rare or Threatened Plants in Victoria''. 26

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5608002 polybractea Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Proteales of Australia Plants described in 1927