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''Verticordia nitens'', commonly known as Christmas Morrison and other names, 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 group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
, Myrtaceae 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 else ...
to the south-west of
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 ...
. The
Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...
peoples know the plant as kotyeningara. It is an upright shrub with glistening and perfumed flower heads that appear between October and February. The small compact and erect flowers have been noted for their beauty. Although it occurs in areas near
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
, Morrison featherflower is not classed as rare or endangered because it still occurs in large populations, although its numbers have undoubtedly been reduced as a result of urban development.


Description

''Verticordia nitens'' is a shrub which usually grows to a height of between although it will sometimes reach a height of , especially in the Gingin area. It will sometimes spread to a width of from upper parts of its solitary basal stem. Unlike some others in the
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
, it does not possess a
lignotuber A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response t ...
. Plants have slender branches,
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 ...
-like in the upper parts. The leaves are needle-like, but soft and long. The flowers are scented and arranged corymb-like on the ends of the branches, each flower on a stalk long. The flowers vary in colour from bright golden, to orange and to a lemon yellow colour in the taller plants of the Gingin area. 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, about long 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 ...
. 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 spreading, long, and have 7 to 8 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 erect, egg-shaped to almost round, about long, with a toothed margin. 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, glabrous and initially bent but straightens as the flower opens.


Taxonomy and naming

The first formal description of this species was by
John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...
in 1837. The description was published in W. J. Hooker's ''Companion to the Botanical Magazine'' from a dried specimen that Lindley had received. Lindley gave it the name ''Chrysorhoe nitens''. The type specimen for this species was first collected in the 1830s somewhere around the
Swan River, Western Australia The Swan River () is a river in the south west of Western Australia. The river runs through the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia's capital and largest city. Course of river The Swan River estuary flows through the city of Perth. ...
"by (?) Toward." Lindley recognised its similarity to ''Verticordia'' but raised the new genus, noting differences between the two genera. In 1838,
Stephan Endlicher Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher also known as Endlicher István László (24 June 1804, Bratislava (Pozsony) – 28 March 1849, Vienna) was an Austrian botanist, numismatist and Sinologist. He was a director of the Botanical Garden of Vienna. Bio ...
changed its name to ''Verticordia nitida'' and published the change in ''Stirpium Australasicarum Herbarii Hugeliani Decades Tres'' although this is regarded as an
orthographical variant In biology, within the science of scientific nomenclature, i.e. the naming of organisms, an orthographical variant (abbreviated orth. var.) in botany or an orthographic error in zoology, is a spelling mistake, typing mistake or writing mistake with ...
and the name ''Verticordia nitens'' (Lindl.) Endl. is widely accepted. Schauer made a similar change of genus in 1841, apparently unaware that Endlicher had already published. Lindley apparently did not agree with the change to ''Verticordia'', recording in his 1840 book, '' A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony'' - "by Dr. Endlicher it is reduced to the genus ''Verticordia'', but I think the character assigned to it in the work alluded to is sufficient to define the genus." When Alex George reviewed the genus in 1991, he revived Lindley's epithet and placed this species in subgenus ''Chrysoma'', section ''Chrysorhoe'' along with '' V. aurea'' and '' V. patens''. ''Verticordi aurea'' has larger flowers and broader staminodes, and ''V. patens'' has lemon-yellow flowers, lobed staminodes, a much shorter style and an earlier flowering period.


Distribution

''Verticordia nitens'' occurs as far north as
Moore River Moore River is a river in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Geography The headwaters of the Moore River lie in the Perenjori, Carnamah and Dalwallinu Shires. The river then drains southwards through Moora, flows westerly before j ...
, and as far south as Yarloop 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 ...
and
Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...
biogeographic regions although it does not reach as far as
Harvey Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...
. The urban sprawl around Perth has created disjunct populations to its north and south. It grows in sand, usually in
Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. ''Banksias'' range i ...
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 ...
and often occurs with '' Nuytsia floribunda'', the Western Australian Christmas Tree, both species having flowers of a "brilliant orange colour".


Ecology

''Verticordia nitens'' and ''V. aurea'' are not attractive to typical insect pollinators. Instead, they are pollinated by
oligolectic The term oligolecty is used in pollination ecology to refer to bees that exhibit a narrow, specialized preference for pollen sources, typically to a single family or genus of flowering plants. The preference may occasionally extend broadly to mult ...
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 ...
. In the case of ''V. nitens'', the bee is '' Euryglossa morrisonii'' (also known as ''Euhesma morrisonii'') of family
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 into ...
, which feeds on nectar, pollen, and the oil retained on the anthers of this species. The species is not considered to be threatened by extinction as it is common and populations are large. Naturally occurring plants have been heavily targeted for the
cut flower Cut may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** Cut ( ...
industry, intermittent reports from 1993 record trends upward of 250,000 stems per annum, but the plant recovers well after harvesting. These later figures show a reduction after closer scrutiny of harvests, though much was obtained from private land, leading to increased sustainability when combined with greater care by pickers. ''V. nitens records in the early 1980s were 83 000 bunches, the majority of the 2 000,000 verticordia stems in an annual harvest that sometimes permanently damaged the shrubs. Collection from
Crown Land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...
has remained permissible, with industry self-regulating its harvesters, but this may destroy local populations on reserves where this has occurred; the reduction in seeds in the soil can expose these populations to an inability to recover from bushfire in time to sustain its pollinator. The shrub is listed for it susceptibility to ''
Phytophthora cinnamomi ''Phytophthora cinnamomi'' is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants variously called " root rot", "dieback", or (in certain ''Castanea'' species), "ink disease". The plant pathogen is one of the wo ...
'', and as an 'indicator species' it is used to detect its presence in banksia woodland, though without observations of its ability to recover.List of Susceptible Species
/ref>


Cultivation

The plant was regarded as highly desirable by gardeners in England. The spectacular display, "strikingly beautiful", was expected to be marketable, yet it has presented difficulties in its propagation. It was introduced to English gardens in 1840, but was not known to have flowered until 1861. The introduction to the eastern states of Australia has met with some success, due to the refining of the technique of propagation and the application of early pruning. Heavy pruning was first suggested by James Drummond, an early collector and promoter of the region's flora. The species was mentioned in the early survey, '' A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony'' ('' Edwards's Botanical Register'', 1837), which was referred to an 1861 notice in ''
Curtis's Botanical Magazine ''The Botanical Magazine; or Flower-Garden Displayed'', is an illustrated publication which began in 1787. The longest running botanical magazine, it is widely referred to by the subsequent name ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine''. Each of the issue ...
'' by W J Hooker, quoting Lindley,
"'the magnificent ''Chrysorrhoë nitens'', whose yellow flowers, of metallic lustre, form masses of golden stars some feet in diameter.' Ever since, it has been the desire of nurserymen and others engaged in horticulture, to import this lovely plant; …"
In these, they note the failure of early attempts to propagate the species in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, the seeds sent from the
Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...
mostly failed to germinate, or the plant did not reach maturity. The
Veitch Nurseries The Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into t ...
successfully raised a plant, providing the flowering specimen in August for the illustration by Walter Fitch, but a note in ''
Hortus Veitchii James Herbert Veitch F.L.S., F.R.H.S. (1 May 1868 – 13 November 1907), was a member of the Veitch family who were distinguished horticulturists and nursery-men for over a century. Early days James was born at Chelsea, London, the elder son of ...
'' (1906) records the disappointing results and as "apparently lost to British gardens". Whether this species was amongst those grown from seeds supplied to
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
in the nineteenth century is lacking evidence and detail. Later cultivation techniques made use of cuttings from lower parts of the plant, propagated from soft to semi-hardened wood, to produce longer living specimens. Cuttings taken between autumn to spring strike readily. Seedlings produced in cultivated gardens are rare, due to the absence of its pollinator. The need for study and development of cultivation techniques was identified by Alf Gray in 1966, and suggested this was not beyond regular commercial interests. Early attempts showed poor development in root structure, and susceptibility to fungal diseases present barriers to development as a crop or garden plant. The species has been less successful as an introduction to the eastern states, suffering fungal conditions after rains and remains vulnerable to root rotting—attributed to ''
Phytophthora ''Phytophthora'' (from Greek language, Greek (''phytón''), "plant" and (), "destruction"; "the plant-destroyer") is a genus of plant-damaging oomycetes (water molds), whose member species are capable of causing enormous economic losses on cro ...
''—in dryer conditions that spare other plants. All members of ''V.'' sect. ''Chrysorhoe'' are noted for the vulnerability to infection of the rapid growth of soft wood, but this is especially destructive to ''V. nitens'' in cultivation. Controls include pruning below sites of infestation, which often appear near the growing tip, results in bushier and more resilient plants for gardens, and study groups have trialled the removal of flowers after downpours. White oil controls used on other verticordia are damaging to ''V. nitens''. Techniques for cultivation for the cut flower industry, replacing the natural harvest, require further development for commercial viability.


Cultural use

The plant has traditional names Kodjeningara and Kotyeningara, and common names such as Glistening Verticordia or those deriving from Morrison—later extended to similar species—these include Morrison Featherflower, Morrison-flower, and Orange or Yellow Morrison. The name of early collector, William Morrison from Kew, was attached to ''V. nitens'', and "Morrison flower" was extended to the common name for many similar and well known species. Morrison was asked by Seymour Meares, the son of Richard Goldsmith Meares, as the botanist Drummond was unavailable to him.> Meares' request from James Mangles was to deliver material for the cultivation of "''Chrysorhoe nitens''" in England, and unable to recall this name he applied that of the collector as a label. Until this fact was noticed by the historian
Rica Erickson Frederica Lucy "Rica" Erickson , née Sandilands, (10 August 1908 – 8 September 2009) was an Australian naturalist, botanical artist, historian, author and teacher. Without any formal scientific training, she wrote extensively on botany and b ...
, the common name was presumed to commemorate Alexander Morrison, the government botanist at the colony.Berndt 2002, cit. Erickson, R. ''The Drummonds of Hawthornden'' Besides the 1861 illustration by Fitch, ''V. nitens'' was included in Constance Miller's collection of watercolours, ''The Western Australian Floral Birthday Book 1912'',
Emily Pelloe Emily Harriet Pelloe (3 May 1878 – 15 April 1941) was a botanical illustrator, and author of books, of the flowering plants of Western Australia. Her work in watercolour, extensive illustrations, and English language descriptions were included ...
painted a portrait of the species in 1925, and full colour photograph was printed in Gardner's ''West Australian Wildflowers'', 1935, the earliest impression of this work. Besides the illustration given to every taxon's description in
Elizabeth George Susan Elizabeth George (born February 26, 1949) is an American writer of mystery novels set in Great Britain. She is best known for a series of novels featuring Inspector Thomas Lynley. The 21st book in the series appeared in January 2022. T ...
's book on the genus by
Margaret Pieroni Margaret Pieroni is a Western Australian botanical artist Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species, frequently in watercolor paintings. They must be scientifically accurate but often also ha ...
, this species was selected with the 200 plants she painted for ''Discovering Wildflowers of Western Australia'' in 1983. ''Verticordia nitens'' is commonly dried or preserved, with uses in a variety of
arts and crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
, their exquisite arrangement of flowers and leaves being set in resin, as topiary trees, or decoration of cake. Flowering stems are readily available and easily preserved as pressed specimens, and these also appear in decorative applications. In addition to widespread use in
flower arranging Floral design or flower arrangement is the art of using plant materials and flowers to create an eye-catching and balanced composition or display. Evidence of refined floristry is found as far back as the culture of ancient Egypt. Professionally ...
, they are used locally as a "Western Australian Christmas" decoration. Cuttings of the flowers retain colour and perfume, for up to 12 months, and this is one of few ''Verticordia'' species that can be hung and dried immediately, without a period in water. Another technique applied to ''V. nitens'' involves steeping cuttings in glycerine and hot water before drying, this affects colour but avoids flowers and leaves becoming brittle. They probably comprise the greatest part of ''Verticordia'' exported by the state's cut flower industry.


References


Notes


External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q7922910 nitens Rosids of Western Australia Garden plants Veitch Nurseries Plants described in 1837