''Verticordia fimbrilepis'', commonly known as shy featherflower, 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 small, bushy shrub with one openly branched main stem at its base, small, pointed leaves and rounded groups of pink flowers near the ends of the branches.

Description

''Verticordia fimbrilepis'' is a shrub which grows to a height and width of about and which has one openly branched stem at its base. The leaves lower on the stems are linear in shape, almost round in cross-section, long with a rounded end with a sharp point. Those near the flowers are more oblong to narrow egg-shaped. The flowers are arranged in rounded groups on stalks long near the ends of the branches. 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 broadly top-shaped, about long,

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 ...

but slightly rough. 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 pink, sometimes white, long, with 5 to 7 hairy 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 pink or white, and are long, egg-shaped with long, coarse hairs. 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 long, straight and glabrous. Flowering time is from November to December or January.

Taxonomy and naming

''Verticordia fimbrilepis'' was first formally described by

Nikolai Turczaninow Nikolai Stepanovich Turczaninow ( ru , Николай Степанович Турчанинов, 1796 in Nikitovka, now in Krasnogvardeysky District, Belgorod Oblast, Russia – 1863 in Kharkov) was a Russian botanist and plant collector who ...

in 1847 and the description was published in the ''Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou'' from specimens collected by James Drummond. 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 ...

(''fimbrilepis'') is "from the Latin ''fimbria'' (fringe) and the Greek ''lepis'' (a scale), probably in reference to the

staminode In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen, which means that it does not produce pollen.Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; ''A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent''; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. ...

s". In 1991,

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 ...

described two subspecies and the names have been accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

: * ''Verticordia fimbrilepis'' Turcz. subsp. ''fimbrilepis'' which has flower stalks long; * ''Verticordia fimbrilepis'' subsp. ''australis'' A.S.George which has flower stalks long. When

reviewed the genus ''Verticordia'' in 1991, he placed this species in subgenus ''Verticordia'', section ''Verticordia'' along with '' V. crebra'', '' V. helichrysantha'', '' V. plumosa'', '' V. stenopetala'', '' V. sieberi'', '' V. harveyi'' and '' V. pityrhops''.

Distribution and habitat

This verticordia grows in low-level sandy areas in heath, shrubland and

wandoo Wandoo is the common name for a number of Western Australian ''Eucalyptus'' species, all of which have smooth white bark. The original "wandoo" is ''Eucalyptus wandoo''. Additional species have been given this name because of a perceived likeness w ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

in scattered areas near Brookton and Narrogin in the

Avon Wheatbelt The Avon Wheatbelt is a bioregion in Western Australia. It has an area of . It is considered part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion. Geography The Avon Wheatbelt bioregion is mostly a gently undulating landscape with low reli ...

Jarrah Forest Jarrah forest is tall open forest in which the dominant overstory tree is ''Eucalyptus marginata'' (jarrah). The ecosystem occurs only in the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia. It is most common in the biogeographic region named in ...

and

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...

biogeographic regions.

Conservation

This verticordia is classified as "not threatened" but both subspecies are classified as "

Threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...

" 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 they are likely to become extinct or are rare, or otherwise in need of special protection. Subspecies ''fimbrilepis'' is also classed as "Endangered" (EN) under the Australian Government

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

(EPBC Act) and an interim recovery plan has been prepared. Subspecies ''australis'' has been classed as "Vulnerable" under the same Act.

Use in horticulture

Both subspecies of ''V. fimbrilepis'' are small open shrubs with dainty pink flowers but only subsp. ''australis'' has so far proved amenable to propagation, and only in Western Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15389073 fimbrilepis Rosids of Western Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1847 Taxa named by Nikolai Turczaninow