''Verticordia etheliana'' 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 shrub with one highly branched main stem, egg-shaped to almost round leaves and spike-like groups of bright red flowers with greenish-cream centres.

Description

''Verticordia etheliana'' is a shrub which grows to a height of and which has one highly branched stem at its base, although the plant is often openly branched. The leaves are broadly egg-shaped, elliptic or almost round, long, sometimes with a few irregular teeth on the edges. The flowers are arranged in spike-like groups on stalks 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 top-shaped, long, glabrous and smooth with curved green

appendage An appendage (or outgrowth) is an external body part, or natural prolongation, that protrudes from an organism's body. In arthropods, an appendage refers to any of the homologous body parts that may extend from a body segment, including anten ...

s. 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 bright red, often creamish-green on their lower parts, long, with 8 to 16 feathery 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 cream-coloured to pink when they open but become bright red, long, with a feathery edge and 2 ear-shaped appendages at their base. The style is long, gently curved, with simple hairs and extends well beyond the petals. Flowering time is from July to November or December.

Taxonomy and naming

''Verticordia etheliana'' was first formally described by Charles Gardner in 1942 and the description was published in the ''

Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia The Royal Society of Western Australia (RSWA) promotes science in Western Australia. The RSWA was founded in 1914. It publishes the ''Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia'', and has awarded the Medal of the Royal Society of Western ...

'' from specimens collected between "Yaringa" station and

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

by William Blackall. 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 ...

(''etheliana'') honours Ethel Gray Blackall, the wife of the collector of the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

specimens. When

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 ...

reviewed the genus ''Verticordia'' in 1991, he described two varieties of this species: * ''Verticordia etheliana'' C.A.Gardner var. ''etheliana'' which has leaves which are long, flower stalks long, sepals long, petals long, and a style which is ; * ''Verticordia etheliana'' var. ''formosa'' A.S.George which shorter leaves, flower stalks, sepals, petals and styles than var. ''etheliana'';. George placed this species in subgenus ''Eperephes'', section ''Pennuligera'' along with '' V. comosa'', '' V. lepidophylla'', '' V. chrysostachys'', '' V. dichroma'', '' V. x eurardyensis'', '' V. muelleriana'', '' V. argentea'', '' V. aereiflora'', '' V. fragrans'', '' V. venusta'', '' V. forrestii'', '' V. serotina'', '' V. oculata'', '' V. albida'' and '' V. grandis''.

Distribution and habitat

This verticordia grows in sandy, gravelly or loamy soil, in heath or shrubland between the Billabong Roadhouse and the

Kalbarri National Park Kalbarri National Park is located north of Perth, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The major geographical features of the park include the Murchison River gorge which runs for nearly on the lower reaches of the Murchison River. Sp ...

and as far east as 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

Both varieties of ''Verticordia etheliana'' are classified as "not threatened" 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 ...

Use in horticulture

Both varieties of ''V. etheliana'' are strikingly attractive and have been grown in gardens, although propagation and cultivation are difficult.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15388886 etheliana Rosids of Western Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1942