''Verticordia mitchelliana'', commonly known as rapier 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 shrub with bright red, rapier-like flowers in spring and early summer, which readily distinguish it from other species. It is commonly grown in private gardens and some forms have larger flowers than those usually found in the wild.

Description

''Verticordia mitchelliana'' is a spreading shrub which grows to a height of and about wide but sometimes grows as high as . Its leaves are linear in shape, semi-circular in cross-section, long and have a rounded tip. The flowers are arranged singly or in small groups near the ends of the branches, each flower more or less hanging 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 ...

is top-shaped but spreading near the tip, long with a small swelling under each

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 ...

. The sepals are bright red and spreading, long and have 6 or 7 deeply divided, hairy lobes and two hairy, deeply divided ear-like

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

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 pink, bright red, yellow or orange and are long. They are erect, egg-shaped, have short, soft hairs on the outside and a few irregular teeth on the tip. 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 and straight, with a few hairs near the tip. Flowering time is from October to December.

Taxonomy and naming

''Verticordia mitchelliana'' was first formally described by Charles Gardner in 1933 from a specimen collected near Bencubbin and the description was published in ''Journal of the Royal Society of Western 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 ...

(''mitchelliana'') honours Sir James Mitchell who was

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

at the time. There are two subspecies: * ''Verticordia mitchelliana'' C.A.Gardner subsp. ''mitchelliana'' which has petals long and

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 s long; * ''Verticordia mitchelliana'' subsp. ''implexior'' A.S.George & M.D.Barrett which has petals long and staminodes s long. When Alex George reviewed the genus ''Verticordia'' in 1991, he placed this species in subgenus ''Verticordia'', section ''Intricata'' along with '' V. monadelpha'', and '' V. pulchella''.

Distribution and habitat

This verticordia grows in sand, usually with other species of ''Verticordia'' in heath and shrubland. It occurs in disjunct populations between

Peak Charles Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...

and Kulja 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 ...

, Coolgardie and Mallee biogeographic regions.

Conservation

Subspecies ''mitchelliana'' 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. Subspecies ''implexior'' is classified as "Not Threatened''.

Use in horticulture

Rapier featherflower has been grown in gardens since the 1970s and several forms have been developed. It grows well in a range of soils as long as they are well drained, and it is resistant to pest attack as well as drought- and frost-tolerant. It can be propagated from both seed and from cuttings.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15389130 mitchelliana Rosids of Western Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1933 James Mitchell (Australian politician)