Adenanthos detmoldii explained

Adenanthos detmoldii, commonly known as Scott River jugflower or yellow jugflower,[1] is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.

Description

It grows as an erect shrub to 4 m (13 ft) in height, with hairy branches and long, narrow leaves up to 80 mm length and about 5 mm wide. The flowers, which appear between August and November, consist of a tubular perianth about 25 mm long, and a style about 40 mm long. The perianth is yellow with an orange throat that becomes brown following pollination.[2]

Taxonomy

The type specimen of A. detmoldii was collected from the vicinity of the Blackwood River around 1870,[3] and sent to Ferdinand von Mueller who published the species in Volume 8 of his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae in 1874. The original type specimen cites "Blackwood-River; J. Forrest",[4] and this has sometimes been interpreted as referring to John Forrest,[5] but John Forrest's brother James is known to have "achieved some repute by making botanical collections of the flora of the Blackwood district for Baron von Mueller",[6] and an isotype lodged at the Botanical Garden in Berlin has been labelled by Ludwig Diels "Blackwood River leg. Jas. Forrest".[7]

Mueller assigned the species to A. sect. Eurylaema,[4] defined as containing those species with perianth tubes that are curved and swollen above the middle.[8] The specific epithet detmoldii was said to be in honour of his friend William Detmold.[4]

A. detmoldii was retained in A. sect. Eurylaema in Ernest Charles Nelson's 1978 revision of Adenanthos,[3] and again in his 1995 treatment of the genus for the Flora of Australia series. The placement of A. detmoldii in Nelson's arrangement of Adenanthos may be summarised as follows:[2]

Adenanthos

A. sect. Eurylaema

A. detmoldii

A. barbiger

A. obovatus

A. × pamela

A. sect. Adenanthos (29 species, 8 subspecies)

This species frequently hybridises with Adenanthos obovatus; the resulting hybrids are known as Adenanthos × pamela.[2]

Distribution and habitat

A. detmoldii is restricted to the vicinity of the Scott and Blackwood Rivers east of Augusta, Western Australia. Unusually for Adenanthos species, it favours damp winter-wet, sandy flats, where it co-occurs with Banksia ser. Dryandra species, Grevillea species, grasses and sedges. It is often the most abundant shrub where it occurs.[3]

Conservation

It is classified as Priority Four - Rare on the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation's Declared Rare and Priority Flora List. That is, it is a taxon which, though rare, does not appear to be threatened.[9] It is said to be now largely confined to road verges because most of its range has been cleared for agriculture,[2] though in 1978 Nelson still held out some hope that "[i]t may be common in wet swamp areas that are not accessible and have not been drained."[3]

It is highly susceptible to Phytophthora cinnamomi dieback.[10]

Cultivation

The species prefers well-drained, light soils in full sun to part shade,[11] though, as its natural occurrence in winter-wet areas would suggest, it is hardier to poor drainage than most Adenanthos species.[1] Naturally a dry-summer plant, it performs unexpectedly well in areas with wet or humid summers, though it is vulnerable to grey mould in such climates. Propagation is by cuttings of semi-mature growth.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Wrigley, John . Fagg, Murray . Banksias, Waratahs and Grevilleas . 1991 . Angus & Robertson . Sydney . 0-207-17277-3. 61–62.
  2. Encyclopedia: Nelson, Ernest Charles . 1995 . Adenanthos . McCarthy, Patrick . . 16 . 314–342 . Collingwood, Victoria . CSIRO Publishing / Australian Biological Resources Study . 0-643-05692-0.
  3. Nelson, Ernest Charles . 1978 . A taxonomic revision of the genus Adenanthos Proteaceae . Brunonia . 1 . 303–406 . 10.1071/BRU9780303.
  4. Book: Mueller, Ferdinand von . 1874 . Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae . 8 . 65 . 149 . 2010-03-21.
  5. Book: George, Alex . 1984 . An introduction to the Proteaceae of Western Australia . Kangaroo Press . Kenthurst . 0-86417-005-X . 21.
  6. Book: Bolton, Geoffrey . Geoffrey Bolton . 1958 . Alexander Forrest: His Life and Times . Melbourne University Press in association with University of Western Australia Press.
  7. Web site: Adenanthos detmoldii F.Muell. . Digital Herbarium . Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem . 2010-03-24.
  8. Encyclopedia: Bentham, George . 1870 . Adenanthos . . 5 . 350–356 . London . L. Reeve & Co..
  9. Web site: Western Australian Flora Conservation Taxa . . Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia . 2010-03-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20100227061841/http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/conservationtaxa. 27 February 2010 . live.
  10. Web site: Part 2, Appendix 4: The responses of native Australian plant species to Phytophthora cinnamomi . Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government . Management of Phytophthora cinnamomi for Biodiversity Conservation in Australia . 12 February 2015 . 2006 . PDF.
  11. Web site: Adenanthos detmondii . Australian Native Plant Society (Australia) . 2010-03-21 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090921090726/http://asgap.org.au/a-det.html . 2009-09-21 .