''Blandfordia nobilis'', commonly known as Christmas bells or gadigalbudyari in

Cadigal The Cadigal, also spelled as Gadigal and Caddiegal, are a group of Indigenous people whose traditional lands are located in Gadi, on Eora country, the location of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Gadigal originally inhabited the area t ...

language, 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 ...

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 else ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. It is a tufted,

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

herbs with narrow, linear leaves and between three and twenty large, drooping, cylindrical to bell-shaped flowers. The flowers are brownish red with yellow tips. It is one of four species of ''

Blandfordia ''Blandfordia'', commonly known as Christmas bells, is a genus of four species of flowering plants native to eastern Australia. Christmas bells are tufted, perennial herbs with narrow, linear leaves and up to twenty large, drooping, cylindric ...

'' known as Christmas bells, this one growing on the coast and ranges south of Sydney.

Description

''Blandfordia nobilis'' has thick, fibrous roots that can form strong, long-lived clumps. The leaves are stiff and grassy, up to long and wide, sometimes with small teeth. The flowering stems is unbranched, up to long and wide with between three and twenty flowers, each on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

stalk up to long with a small bract near its base. The three

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 coine ...

s and three petals are fused to form a cylindrical flower usually long and about wide. The base of the flower is narrowed and the end has six pointed lobes about long. The flower is usually brownish red with yellow lobes. The stamens are attached to the inside wall of the flower tube, just below its middle. Flowering occurs from September to February, with a peak in December and January, and is followed by the fruit which is a capsule about long on a stalk up to long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Blandfordia nobilis'' was first formally described in 1804 by English botanist

James Edward Smith James Edward Smith may refer to: * James Edward Smith (botanist), English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society * James Edward Smith (murderer), American murderer * James Edward Smith (politician), Canadian businessman and mayor of Toronto * ...

who published the description in ''Exotic Botany'' from dried specimens sent from Sydney by the colonial surgeon, John White. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...

was collected from

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea ...

about the year 1800. ''Blandfordia nobilis'' was first published in 1804 by English botanist

, and it still bears its original name. The specific epithet (''nobilis'') 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 "well-known", "celebrated" or "noble".

Distribution and habitat

''Blandfordia nobilis'' grows on poor sandstone soils and swampy areas, between the towns of Sydney, Milton and Braidwood. In wet heathland it is associated with sundews (''

Drosera ''Drosera'', which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. 2 volumes. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginou ...

'') and '' Schoenus brevifolius''.

Use in horticulture

Seeds of ''B. nobilis'' were sent to English plant nurseries at about the same time as dried specimens were sent to the botanist, Smith. However, it was not until 1818 that the plants first flowered. It is not clear which species had flowered as at least some species called '' B. cunninghamii'' were in fact ''B. nobilis''.

Culture

''Blandiflora nobilis'' is the subject of a Christmas Song "My Little Christmas Belle" published in 1909 by Sydney's popular song composer Joe Slater (1872-1926) with lyrics by Scottish entertainer Ward McAlister (1872-1928). The copy in the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

bears a cartoon depiction of the blossom.

Paintings

Image:286 Blandfordia nobilis.jpg, Christmas Bells published in 1818 Image:Blandfordia nobilis.jpg, Christmas Bells by John Sims

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4925024 Flora of New South Wales Blandfordiaceae Plants described in 1804