Asterolasia squamuligera explained

Asterolasia squamuligera, commonly known as yellow starbush, is a species of erect, woody, slender perennial shrub that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has leathery, egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base and yellow flowers arranged in umbels of five to ten with a fringe of scales on the back of the petals, and about ten stamens.

Description

Asterolasia squamuligera is slender, woody, perennial shrub that typically grows to a height of about . The leaves are leathery, egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and glabrous or with a few star-shaped hairs. The flowers are arranged in sessile umbels of five to ten in leaf axils and on the ends of branchlets, each flower on a thin pedicel up to long. The petals are yellow, elliptical, about long, with a fringe of scales on the back, and there are about ten stamens.[1]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1848 by William Jackson Hooker who gave it the name Phebalium squamuligerum and published the description in Icones Plantarum from specimens collected by James Drummond.[2] [3]

In 1863, George Bentham changed the name to Asterolasia squamuligera, publishing the change in Flora Australiensis.[4] [5]

Distribution and habitat

This species grows on laterite on hilltops and flats from near Augusta east to Lake Grace and from Beverley south to Mount Barker.

Conservation status

Asterolasia squamuligera is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Wilson . Paul G. . Asterolasia squamuligera . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Canberra . 29 June 2020.
  2. Web site: Phebalium squamuligera. APNI. 29 June 2020.
  3. Book: Hooker . William Jackson . Icones Plantarum . 1848 . Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman etc. . London . 727 . 29 June 2020.
  4. Web site: Asterolasium squamuligera. APNI. 29 June 2020.
  5. Book: Bentham . George . von Mueller . Ferdinand . Flora Australiensis . 1863 . Lovell Reeve & Co. . London . 352 . 29 June 2020.