''Verticordia rutilastra'', commonly known as little grandiflora, 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

Southwest Australia Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna. The region is also known as the Southwest Aus ...

, a biodiversity hotspot in Western Australia. It is a small shrub with short upper branches, narrow leaves and yellow, feathery flowers, often with a star-like red centre.

Description

''Verticordia rutilastra'' is an irregularly branched shrub with short upper branches, which grows to a height of and wide. Its leaves are linear in shape, long and more or less triangular in cross-section with a rounded end with a point. The flowers are arranged in corymb-like groups on the ends of the branches, 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 about long, rough and glabrous. The sepals are about long, spreading, yellow at first, turning red with age with 8 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 a similar colour to the petals but change colour earlier, so that the red appears to spread from the centre of the flower. The petals are about long, spreading, with long, pointed, finger-like lobes. The style is very short and straight. Flowering time is from September to November.

Taxonomy and naming

''Verticordia rutilastra'' 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''. George gave 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 ...

"from the Latin ''rutilus'' (red with a metallic lustre) and ''aster'' (a star), in reference to the appearance of the flower as it ages and turns red; the petals change first and together appear star-like". George placed this species in subgenus ''Chrysoma'', section ''Unguiculata'', along with '' V. nobilis'' and '' V. grandiflora''.

Distribution and habitat

This verticordia grows in sand, often with loam, clay, or gravel in heath, often with other verticordia species on rocky hills. It occurs in an area between the

Lesueur National Park Lesueur National Park is a national park straddling the boundary between the Wheatbelt and Mid West regions of Western Australia, 211 km north of Perth. The park was gazetted in 1992. It includes two mesas known as Mount Lesueur and Moun ...

, Alexander Morrison National Park, and Moora in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains 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 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 rutilastra'' is classified as " Priority Three" 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 it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.

Use in horticulture

''Verticordia rutilastra'' is usually propagated from cuttings and although slow to establish has been grown in deep white sand with added gravel.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15389654 rutilastra Rosids of Western Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1991