''Verticordia rennieana'' 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 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 ...

of Western Australia. It is an openly branched shrub with small, narrow, warty leaves and pink and silvery-white flowers in spring and summer.

Description

''Verticordia rennieana'' is an openly branched shrub which grows to a height of and wide. Its new growth is whitish and the leaves are linear, long and prominently warty. The flowers are scented and arranged in small groups near 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 ...

hemispherical A sphere () is a Geometry, geometrical object that is a solid geometry, three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

in shape, about long, with large 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 forming a thick collar around the hypanthium. The sepals are pink and silvery-white, long with 7 to 10 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 spreading, pink to purple long, oval to almost round with a smooth edge. There are only 5

fertile Fertility is the capability to produce offspring through reproduction following the onset of sexual maturity. The fertility rate is the average number of children born by a female during her lifetime and is quantified demographically. Fertilit ...

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s with groups of 3

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 between the stamens. The style is about long, thick, straight and hairy. Flowering time is from October to January.

Taxonomy and naming

''Verticordia rennieana'' was first formally described by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

and

Ralph Tate Ralph Tate (11 March 1840 – 20 September 1901) was a British-born botanist and geologist, who was later active in Australia. Early life Tate was born at Alnwick in Northumberland, the son of Thomas Turner Tate (1807–1888), a teacher of math ...

in 1896 from a specimen collected by Richard Helms and the description was published in ''Transactions and proceedings and report, Royal Society of South Australia''. 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 ...

(''rennieana'') honours

Edward Henry Rennie Edward Henry Rennie (19 August 1852 – 8 January 1927) was an Australian scientist and a president of the Royal Society of South Australia. Early life Rennie was born in Balmain, Sydney, the eldest son of Edward Alexander Rennie (who later be ...

. In his review of the genus 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 ...

placed this species in subgenus ''Eperephes'', section ''Integripetala'' along with '' V. helmsii'', '' V. interioris'', '' V. mirabilis'' and '' V. picta''.George, A.S. (1991) New taxa, combinations and typifications in ''Verticordia'' (Myrtaceae: Chamelaucieae). ''Nuytsia'' 7(3): 254

Distribution and habitat

This verticordia is found in a broad area between Perenjori and Southern Cross where it grows in sand, sometimes with gravel or loam, often with other species of verticordia in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie 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 rennieana'' is 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

Although this verticordia is rarely grown in gardens it is described as "a beautiful small shrub ... with honey-perfumed flowers". It is propagated from cuttings and requires a sunny position in well-drained soil.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15390241 rennieana Endemic flora of Western Australia Myrtales of Australia Rosids of Western Australia Plants described in 1896 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller