''Hibbertia'', commonly known as guinea flowers, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Dilleniaceae. They are usually shrubs with simple leaves and usually yellow flowers with five sepals and five

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s. There are about 400 species, most of which occur in Australia but a few species occur in New Guinea, New Caledonia, Fiji and Madagascar.

Description

Plants in the genus ''Hibbertia'' are usually shrubs, rarely climbers, and often form mats. Their leaves are usually arranged alternately along the stems, usually sessile, clustered on short side-branches, and have smooth, rarely toothed or lobed edges. The flowers are usually arranged singly in leaf axils or on the ends of stems and have five sepals, two "outer" sepals slightly overlapping the three "inner" ones. There are five yellow, rarely orange, petals and the

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are usually arranged in three to five groups, sometimes on only one side of the

carpels 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'' ...

. There are between two and five carpels, usually free from each other, each containing up to six ovules and with a style on the top. The fruit is a follicle containing seeds, usually with an

aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...

Taxonomy and naming

The genus ''Hibbertia'' was first formally described in 1800 by Henry Cranke Andrews in his book ''The Botanist's Repository for New, and Rare Plants'' and the first species he described was ''H. volubilis'', now known as '' H. scandens''. The name ''Hibbertia'' honours George Hibbert, a patrony of botany. The common name, guinea flower reflects the resemblance of the flowers to the colour and shape of the

guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

coin.

Species list

See List of ''Hibbertia'' species

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2709465 Eudicot genera Taxa named by Henry Cranke Andrews