''Verticordia pritzelii'', commonly known as Pritzel's 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 compact, woody shrub with several main stems, small, linear to club-shaped leaves, and rounded groups of deep pink flowers from late spring to mid-summer.

Description

''Verticordia pritzelii'' is a shrub which grows to a height of and with several stems at its base. The leaves are linear to club-shaped, semi-circular in cross-section, long with a small point on the end. The flowers are scented and arranged in rounded groups, 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 and there is a swelling beneath 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 spreading, deep pink but fade to white as they age. They are long, have 4-6 long, long, thin lobes and two hairy

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 a similar colour to the sepals, long, erect and more or less round with small teeth on their outer edge. 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, with hairs near the tip. Flowering time is from October to early January. The deep colouration of the flowers of ''V. pritzelii'' and its compact habit distinguish it from other members of section ''Catocalypta''.

Taxonomy and naming

''Verticordia pritzleii'' was first formally described by

Ludwig Diels Dr. Friedrich Ludwig Emil Diels (24 September 1874 – 30 November 1945) was a German botanist. Diels was born in Hamburg, the son of the classical scholar Hermann Alexander Diels. From 1900 to 1902 he traveled together with Ernst Georg Prit ...

in 1904 from a specimen collected near Coolgardie. The description was published in ''Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae occidentalis''. 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 ...

(''pritzelii'') honours

Ernst Georg Pritzel Ernst Georg Pritzel (15 May 1875 – 6 April 1946) was a German botanist. He is known for his research in the fields of phytogeography and taxonomy. He contributed works on Lycopodiaceae, Psilotaceae and Pittosporaceae to Engler & Prantl’s "Die ...

who visited Diels in 1900. When Alex George reviewed the genus ''Verticordia'' in 1991, he placed this species in subgenus ''Verticordia'', section ''Catocalypta'' along with '' V. inclusa'', '' V. apecta'', '' V. insignis'', '' V. habrantha'', '' V. lehmannii'' and '' V. roei''.

Distribution and habitat

Pritzel's featherflower is found in yellow or white to grey sand, on undulating plains between Perenjori, Bungalbin and

Forrestania Forrestania Airport is located at Forrestania, Western Australia. See also * List of airports in Western Australia This is a list of airports in the Australian state of Western Australia. __TOC__ List of airports The list is sorted by ...

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, Mallee, Murchison 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.

Conservation

''Verticordia pritzelii'' 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

This species shows potential as a garden plant and is relatively easy to propagate, however, it has proven difficult to maintain in the garden although previously grown successfully in Kings Park Botanical Garden.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7922920 pritzelii Rosids of Western Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1904