''Grevillea tenuiflora'', commonly known as tassel grevillea, is 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 southwest of Western Australia. It is a spreading to weakly erect shrub with divided leaves, the end lobes more or less triangular and sharply pointed, and clusters of whitish and violet-tinged flowers.

Description

''Grevillea tenuiflora'' is a spreading to weakly erect shrub that typically grows to a height of . The leaves are pinnatisect to pinnatifid, long with 5 to 7 lobes, usually divided again, the end lobes more or less triangular, long, wide and sharply pointed. The flowers are arranged in leaf axils or on the ends of branches, in sometimes branched clusters, each branch usually down-curved, more or less cylindrical or oval, long and wide. The flowers are whitish and tinged with violet, 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 mostly occurs in August and September, and the fruit is a sticky, oval follicle long.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1839 by

John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...

who gave it the name ''Anadenia tenuiflora'' in ''

A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony "A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony", also known by its standard botanical abbreviation ''Sketch Veg. Swan R.'', is an 1839 article by John Lindley on the flora of the Swan River Colony. Nearly 300 new species were published in it, ...

''. In 1845, Carl Meissner transferred it to ''Grevillea'' as ''G. tenuifora'' in Lehmann's '' Plantae Preissianae''. 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 ...

(''tenuiflora'') means "thinly or delicately flowered".

Distribution and habitat

Tassel grevillea grows in heath, shrubland or woodland between York, Armadale and Wagin in the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest and

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...

bioregions of south-western Western Australia. It grows in gravelly, sand or clay soils over

laterite Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

Conservation status

''Grevillea tenuiflora'' is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15582468 tenuiflora Endemic flora of Western Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Proteales of Australia Taxa named by John Lindley Plants described in 1839

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution and habitat

Conservation status

See also

References