''Verticordia insignis'' is a species of flowering plant 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 ...

of Western Australia. It is an open, irregularly-branched shrub with small leaves and heads of relatively large pink, or white and pink flowers on the ends of the branches in spring.

Description

''Verticordia insignis'' is an open, irregularly-branched shrub that grows to high. Its leaves are linear to elliptic in shape, roughly triangular in cross-section, long with a rounded end. Leaves near the flowers tend to be wider than those further down the stems. The flowers are scented and arranged in rounded,

corymb Corymb is a botanical term for an inflorescence with the flowers growing in such a fashion that the outermost are borne on longer pedicels than the inner, bringing all flowers up to a common level. A corymb has a flattish top with a superficial re ...

-like groups on the ends of the branches on erect stalks 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, about long, covered with short, soft hairs with 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 white to pale or deep pink, long, spreading with five to seven lobes that have long, spreading hairs. 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 egg-shaped to almost round, pale to deep pink, long and spreading, edged with short teeth. 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 fairly straight, long and

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

. Flowering mostly occurs from September to November.

Taxonomy and naming

''Verticordia insignis'' was first formally described by Stephen Endlicher in 1837 and the description was published in ''

Enumeratio plantarum quas in Novae Hollandiae ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus Liber Baro de Hügel ''Enumeratio plantarum quas in Novae Hollandiæ ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus Liber Baro de Hügel'' is a description of the plants collected at the Swan River colony and King George Sound in ...

'' from specimens found near the Swan River by Carl von Huegel. When Alex George reviewed the genus in 1991, he placed this species in subgenus ''Verticordia'', section ''Catocalypta'' along with '' V. roei'', '' V. apecta'', '' V. inclusa'', '' V. habrantha'', '' V. lehmannii'' and '' V. pritzelii''. In the same review, George described three subspecies of ''V. insignis'': * ''Verticordia insignis'' Endl. subsp. ''insignis'' has white sepals, a style long, petals long,

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 long and upper leaves mostly long; * ''Verticordia insignis'' subsp. ''compta'' A.S.George is similar to subsp. ''insignis'' but has pink sepals, shorter stamens , and much shorter styles and shorter upper leaves ; * ''Verticordia insignis'' subsp. ''eomagis'' A.S.George has longer sepals , slightly longer petals , longer stamens and a longer style than the other two subspecies. 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 ...

(''insignis'') is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word meaning "remarkable", "notable" or "eminent".

Distribution and habitat

This verticordia often grows in association with other species of verticordia in grey or yellow sand near rocks in heath and woodland. It occurs along the

Darling Scarp The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to th ...

and inland as far as Northam and Brookton 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,

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 ...

, Mallee,

Geraldton Sandplains Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

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 status

The two subspecies ''insignis'' and ''compta'' are 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 ...

but subspecies ''eomagis'' is classified as " Priority Three" meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.

Use in horticulture

This verticordia has horticultural potential because of its flowers, described as "outstandingly beautiful, resembling miniature powder puffs". It has been propagated from cuttings but establishing them in the garden has been difficult.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7922908 insignis Rosids of Western Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1837 Taxa named by Stephan Endlicher