Daviesia pseudaphylla explained

Daviesia pseudaphylla, commonly known as Stirling Range daviesia,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the Stirling Range in the south-west of Western Australia. It is an open, spreading, glabrous shrub with low-lying stems, scattered, cylindrical phyllodes indistinguishable from branchlets, and orange-yellow and dark reddish flowers.

Description

Daviesia pseudaphylla is an open, spreading, low-lying, glabrous shrub that typically grows up to high and wide. Its phyllodes are widely scattered, cylindrical, up to long and wide and indistinguishable from the branchlets. The flowers are usually arranged singly or pairs on a peduncle up to long, each flower on a pedicel about long with spatula-shaped bracts about long at the base. The sepals are long and joined at the base the upper two lobes joined for most of their length and the lower three about long. The standard petal is broadly elliptic, long, wide, and yellow-orange with a dark purple back. The wings are about long and yellow-orange, the keel about long and dark reddish. Flowering occurs from July to September and the fruit is a triangular pod long.[2] [3]

Taxonomy

Daviesia pseudaphylla was first formally described in 1995 by Michael Crisp in Australian Systematic Botany from specimens collected in the Stirling Range by Kenneth Newbey in 1978.[4] The specific epithet (pseudaphylla) means "false-leafless", referring to the species' appearing to lack phyllodes.[5]

Distribution and habitat

Stirling Range daviesia is only known from two small populations in the Stirling Range where it grows on gentle slopes in open mallee and heath near the foot of the range.[6]

Conservation status

Daviesia pseudaphylla is declared an "endangered" species under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, and as "threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is in danger of extinction.[7] The main threat to the species is inappropriate fire regimes, and a potential threat is from dieback due to Phytophthora cinnamomi.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Species Profile and Threats Database: Daviesia pseudaphylla — Stirling Range Daviesia. 2020-04-21. Department of the Environment, Canberra. Department of the Environment. 2020. www.environment.gov.au/sprat..
  2. Crisp . Michael D. . Cayzer . Lindy . Chandler . Gregory T. . Cook . Lyn G. . A monograph of Daviesia (Mirbelieae, Faboideae, Fabaceae) . Phytotaxa . 2017 . 300 . 1 . 204 . 10.11646/phytotaxa.300.1.1. free .
  3. Crisp . Michael . Notes on Daviesia and Jacksonia (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae) for the Flora of the Perth Region. . Nuytsia . 1984 . 5 . 1 . 164–165 . 28 March 2022.
  4. Web site: Daviesia pseudaphylla. APNI. 4 April 2022.
  5. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 285 . 3rd.
  6. Web site: Approved Conservation Advice for Daviesia pseudaphylla (Stirling Range Daviesia) . Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment . 4 April 2022.
  7. Web site: Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna. Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. 4 April 2022.
  8. Web site: Invasive Species Compendium: Daviesia pseudaphylla. www.cabi.org. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200610083758/https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/119558 . 10 June 2020 . 2020-04-20.