''Verticordia apecta'', commonly known as scruffy verticordia or Hay River 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 slender shrub with linear lower stem leaves, narrow elliptic upper stem leaves and elliptic to egg-shaped leaves near the flowers. There are only a few flowers in the upper leaf axils on relatively long stalks and 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 deep pink with fine, white fringes.

Description

''Verticordia albida'' is a slender, erect shrub with a single main stem and which grows to a height of between . Its leaves differ from each other, depending on their position on the plant. The lower leaves are linear in shape, triangular in cross-section and long. Those further up the stems are elliptic in shape and about long. Leaves near the flowers are elliptic or egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base and triangular in cross section. The flowers are few in number, arranged in some of the upper leaf axils on stalks long. The sepals are deep pink and long including their lobes and fine white fringe. 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 roughly circular in shape, deep pink, long with four to six main long pointed lobes and many smaller lobes. 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 with short hairs around its end. Flowering time is mostly in November to January.

Taxonomy and naming

''Verticordia apecta'' was first formally described by

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 ...

and Alex George in 1994 from specimens collected near Mount Barker and the description was published in ''

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

''. 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 ...

(''apecta'') is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

word ''ἄπεκτος (ápektos)'' meaning "uncombed", referring to the untidy appearance of the flowers of this species. George placed this species in subgenus ''Verticordia'', section ''Catocalypta'' along with '' V. roei'', '' V. inclusa'', '' V. insignis'', '' V. habrantha'', '' V. lehmannii'' and '' V. pritzelii''.

Distribution and habitat

This verticordia grows in sandy clay in low, open ''

Eucalyptus wandoo ''Eucalyptus wandoo'', commonly known as wandoo, dooto, warrnt or wornt, is a small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of nine to sev ...

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 ...

in a small area near Mount Barker in the

Jarrah Forest Jarrah forest is tall open forest in which the dominant overstory tree is ''Eucalyptus marginata'' (jarrah). The ecosystem occurs only in the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia. It is most common in the biogeographic region named in ...

biogeographic region An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

Conservation

''Verticordia apecta'' is classified as " Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" 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 ...

and an Interim Recovery Plan has been prepared. It has also been listed as "Critically Endangered" (CR) under the Australian Government

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

(EPBC Act). The population size was estimated to be 16 mature plants in 2009. The main threats to the species are too-frequent fires and infestation by the dieback fungus ''

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 ...

''.

Use in horticulture

Due to the relatively recent discovery of this species, few attempts at propagation have been attempted and all so far have been unsuccessful.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7922878 apecta Rosids of Western Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1991