Conospermum canaliculatum explained

Conospermum canaliculatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae, and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a dense, multistemmed, erect shrub with linear leaves and spike-like panicles of woolly white, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

Conospermum canaliculatum is a dense, multistemmed, erect shrub that typically grows to a height of up to . Its leaves are linear, long and wide with distinct longitudinal channels on the upper surface. The flowers are arranged in branched, spike-like panicles in upper leaf axils on hairy peduncles long. The bracteoles are long. The perianth is white-woolly and black or maroon inside, forming a tube long. The upper lip is long, the lower lip joined for long with lobes long and wide. Flowering time varies with subspecies and the fruit is a hairy, rusty-brown nut long.[1]

Taxonomy

Conospermum canaliculatum was first formally described in 1848 by Carl Meissner in Johann Georg Christian Lehmann's book, Plantae Preissianae from specimens collected in the Swan River Colony by James Drummond.[2] [3]

In 1995, Eleanor Marion Bennett described subspecies apiculatum in the Flora of Australia, and that name, and that of the autonym are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

Distribution and habitat

This species grows in sand between Perth and Badgingarra. Subspecies apiculatum is found near Badgingarra in the Geraldton Sandplains bioregion and subsp. canaliculatum occurs between Perth and Yanchep in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions.

Conservation status

Both subspecies of C. canaliculatum are listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bennett . Edith M. . Conospermum canaliculatum . Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra . 9 July 2024.
  2. Web site: Conospermum canaliculatum . Australian Plant Name Index . 9 July 2024.
  3. Book: Meissner . Carl . Lehmann . Johann G.C. . Plantae preissianae sive enumeratio plantarum quas in australasia occidentali et meridionali-occidentali annis 1838-1841 collegit Ludovicus Preiss . 2 . 1848 . Sumptibus Meissneri . Hamburg . 250 . 9 July 2024.
  4. Web site: Conospermum canaliculatum subsp. apiculatum . Australian Plant Census . 9 July 2024.
  5. Web site: Bennett . Edith M. . Conospermum canaliculatum subsp. apiculatum . Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra . 9 July 2024.
  6. Web site: Conospermum canaliculatum subsp. canaliculatum . Australian Plant Census . 9 July 2024.
  7. Web site: Bennett . Edith M. . Conospermum canaliculatumsubsp. canaliculatum . Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra . 9 July 2024.