''Verticordia capillaris'' is a
flowering plant in the myrtle
family,
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 to the
south-west of
Western Australia. It is a shrub with a single stem at the base, small leaves and creamy white or occasionally pink flowers in dense
corymb-like groups. It is common in small areas near
Geraldton.
Description
''Verticordia brevifolia'' is a shrub which grows to a height of and a spread of and which has a single, highly branched stem at its base. Its leaves are linear to club-shaped, roughly circular in cross-section, long, with the leaves near the flowers more club-shaped than those further down the stems.
The flowers are lightly scented and arranged in corymb-like groups, each flower on an erect 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,
constricted above the middle, about long and hairy. The
sepals are creamy-white, occasionally pink, long, with 2 or 5 main lobes but the entire border of the sepals is feather-like. 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 the same colour as the sepals, long, egg-shaped and covered with short hairs. The
style is purple coloured, straight and long. Flowering time is from September to November.
Taxonomy and naming
''Verticordia capillaris'' 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'' from specimens collected in
Kalbarri National Park by Alex George and Bob Wemm.
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 ...
(''capillaris'') is "named from the Latin ''capillaris'' (hair-like), in reference to the very slender style".
George placed this species in subgenus
''Verticordia'', section
''Corymbiformis'' along with ''
V. polytricha'', ''
V. densiflora'', ''
V. eriocephala'' and ''
V. brownii''.
Distribution and habitat
This verticordia grows in sand, sandy clay or sandy loam in tall shrubland
in areas near the Kalbarri National Park and south to near
Mullewa in the
Avon Wheatbelt,
Geraldton Sandplains and
Yalgoo biogeographic regions
A biogeographic realm or ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms. They are subdivided into bioregions, which are further subdivided into ecoregions.
De ...
.
Conservation
''Verticordia capillaris'' is classified as "
Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia
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 en ...
,
meaning that is rare or near threatened.
Use in horticulture
This species is very rare in cultivation although one plant which was originally transplanted from land that was later cleared for agriculture has survived for more than 15 years. Otherwise the species has proven difficult to introduce to horticulture.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q12847227
capillaris
Rosids of Western Australia
Eudicots of Western Australia
Plants described in 1991