''Verticordia aurea'', commonly known as buttercups is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the myrtle

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...

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

south-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It is a slender, sometimes bushy shrub with a single stem at the base, cylindrical leaves and heads of scented, golden-yellow flowers in spring.

Description

''Verticordia aurea'' is a slender, sometimes bushy shrub with a single main stem and which grows to a height of and wide. The leaves are linear in shape, almost circular in cross-section and long, with those low on the branchlets longer than those nearer the flowers. The leaves have a pointed end. The flowers are scented and arranged in a

corymb Corymb is a botanical term for an inflorescence with the flowers growing in such a fashion that the outermost are borne on longer pedicels than the inner, bringing all flowers up to a common level. A corymb has a flattish top with a superficial re ...

on the ends of the branches, each flower on a stalk long. The

floral cup In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and calyx tube. It ...

is shaped like half a sphere, long, has 10 ribs and a warty surface. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are golden-yellow in colour, long, with 6 to 9 feather-like lobes. The

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 are also golden-yellow, long and almost circular in shape with a serrated edge. The

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

is about long, straight and

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

. Flowering time is from September to December. The species is closely allied to ''

Verticordia nitens ''Verticordia nitens'', commonly known as Christmas Morrison and other names, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. The Noongar peoples know the plant as kotyeningara. It i ...

'' and '' V. patens'', the three members of ''Verticordia'' sect. ''Chrysorhoe'', from which it is most easily distinguished by its larger, more deeply yellow or golden flowers.

Taxonomy and naming

''Verticordia aurea'' was first formally described by

Alex George Alexander or Alex George may refer to: *Alex George (botanist) (born 1939), Australian botanist * Alexander L. George (1920–2006), American political scientist * Alexander George (philosopher), American philosopher *Alex George (motorcyclist), Sc ...

in 1991 and the description was published in ''

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

'' from specimens collected south of Eneabba. 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 ...

(''aurea'') is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''aurum'' meaning "gold" referring to the colour of the flowers. George placed this species in subgenus ''Chrysoma'', section ''Chrysorhoe'' along with '' V. patens'' and '' V. nitens''.

Distribution and habitat

This verticordia grows in deep sand, usually in association with other verticordias, in heath, shrubland or woodland with ''

Eucalyptus todtiana ''Eucalyptus todtiana'', commonly known as coastal blackbutt pricklybark or , is a species of tree or a mallee that is endemic to the west coast of Western Australia. It has rough, fibrous and flaky bark on the trunk, smooth bark on the branche ...

'', ''

Banksia menziesii ''Banksia menziesii'', commonly known as firewood banksia, is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Banksia''. It is a gnarled tree up to tall, or a lower spreading shrub in the more northern parts of its range. The serrated leaves ar ...

'' and ''

Xylomelum angustifolium ''Xylomelum angustifolium'', the sandplain woody pear, is a tree species in the family Proteaceae, endemic to Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the la ...

''. It is known from scattered areas between Eneabba, Lake Indoon and the Green Head - Coorow Road, within of Eneabba in the

Geraldton Sandplains Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

biogeographic region An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

Ecology

The flowers are not attractive to typical insect pollinators, except for a single species of

solitary bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfami ...

'' Euryglossa aureophila'' (

Colletidae The Colletidae are a family of bees, and are often referred to collectively as plasterer bees or polyester bees, due to the method of smoothing the walls of their nest cells with secretions applied with their mouthparts; these secretions dry int ...

), previously ''Euhesma aureophila'', which feeds on nectar, pollen, and the oil released from the anthers.

Conservation

''Verticordia argentea'' is classified as " Priority Four" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

, meaning that is rare or near threatened.

Use in horticulture

In cultivation ''V. aurea'' is a bushy shrub with colourful flowers, making it an attractive garden plant, but it has proven difficult to grow, except in Western Australia in deep sand in an open sunny location. In other conditions it is susceptible to fungal attack. It can be propagated from cuttings.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7922882

aurea Aurea, golden in Latin, may refer to: * Aurea (car), a former Italian automobile manufactured in Turin from 1921 to 1930 * Aurea (singer) (born 1987), Portuguese singer * Aurea Alexandrina, a kind of opiate or antidote * Áurea, a municipality in ...

Rosids of Western Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1991