Woollybush, woolly bush or woolly-bush is a common name for plants of the genus ''

Adenanthos ''Adenanthos'' is a genus of Australian native shrubs in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. Variable in habit and leaf shape, it is the only genus in the family where solitary flowers are the norm. It was discovered in 1791, and formally publ ...

'' with leaves deeply divided into long, soft, slender laciniae, often covered in a fine down of soft hairs. These properties give the leaves a soft, silky feel, in stark contrast to the

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaf, leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is paral ...

ous plants that dominate both its geographic range (southern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

) and its taxonomic family (

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Pro ...

). This softness accounts for the common name. 13 species of ''

'' possess these properties. Many of these have common names that include the ''woollybush'' epithet. However the two species of ''Adenanthos'' that occur outside Western Australia are both woollybushes yet have common names based on the name ''gland flower''. This suggests that the common name ''woollybush'' is exclusively a Western Australian name. Species of woollybush include: * ''

Adenanthos acanthophyllus ''Adenanthos acanthophyllus'', commonly known as prickly woollybush, is a species of shrub endemic to Western Australia. The shrub has a robust habit and typically grows to a height of but can reach as high as . It often has many stems arising ...

'' (prickly woollybush) * ''

Adenanthos argyreus ''Adenanthos argyreus'', commonly known as little woollybush, is a species of erect shrub endemic to southwest Western Australia. The shrub has an erect and compact habit A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavi ...

'' (little woollybush) * ''

Adenanthos cygnorum ''Adenanthos cygnorum'', commonly known as common woollybush or just woollybush, is a tall shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Western Australia, commonly occurring in the south west of the State from north of Geraldton south to ...

'' (woollybush, common woollybush) * ''

Adenanthos dobagii ''Adenanthos dobagii'', commonly known as Fitzgerald woollybush, is a shrub in the family Proteaceae. It grows to a mere 50 cm ( ft) high, with crowded small silvery leaves and insignificant pink or cream flowers. It occurs only in sout ...

'' (Fitzgerald woollybush) * ''

Adenanthos labillardierei ''Adenanthos labillardierei'' is a species of erect shrub endemic to the slopes of the Barren Ranges in the Fitzgerald River National Park in southwest Western Australia. Description It grows as an erect shrub, usually less than m in heig ...

'' * ''

Adenanthos macropodianus ''Adenanthos macropodianus'', commonly known as gland flower, or Kangaroo Island gland flower, is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Kangaroo Island in South Australia. First published as a variety of '' A. serice ...

'' (Kangaroo Island gland flower) * ''

Adenanthos meisneri ''Adenanthos meisneri'', commonly known as prostrate woollybush, is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. Description It usually grows to 1 metre high and has leaves are up to 80&nbs ...

'' (prostrate woollybush) * ''

Adenanthos oreophilus ''Adenanthos oreophilus'', commonly known as woollybush, is a species of tall shrub endemic to southwest Western Australia. It is closely related to the better known '' A. sericeus'' (Albany woollybush), and was only classified as a species ...

'' (woollybush) * ''

Adenanthos sericeus ''Adenanthos sericeus'', commonly known as woolly bush, is a shrub native to the south coast of Western Australia. It has bright red but small and obscure flowers, and very soft, deeply divided, hairy leaves. Description ''Adenanthos sericeus ...

'' (woollybush, coastal woollybush, tall woollybush, Albany woollybush) * ''

Adenanthos terminalis ''Adenanthos terminalis'', commonly known as gland flower, yellow gland flower or adenanthos, is a one metre tall shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is found in south eastern regions of Australia, in the states of South Australia and Victoria ...

'' (yellow gland flower) * ''

Adenanthos velutinus ''Adenanthos velutinus'', or velvet woollybush, is a shrub of the family Proteaceae native to Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Austral ...

'' (velvet woollybush) * ''Adenanthos'' × ''cunninghamii'' (woollybush, Albany woollybush, prostrate woollybush)

Ernest Charles Nelson (Ernest) Charles Nelson (15 September 1951, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a botanist who specialises in the heather family, Ericaceae, especially ''Erica'', and whose past research interests included the Proteaceae especially '' Adenanthos''. H ...

states that the name has been in use for a long time, and believes that it originated in the vicinity of

Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; nys, Kinjarling) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a ...

References

Adenanthos Eudicots of Western Australia {{Plant common name