Grevillea miqueliana explained

Grevillea miqueliana is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to Victoria in Australia. It is an erect to spreading shrub with elliptic to egg-shaped leaves and clusters of red and orange or yellow flowers.

Description

Grevillea miqueliana is a spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of and shaggy- to woolly-hairy branchlets. The leaves are elliptic to egg-shaped, sometimes with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide with the edges turned down or rolled under. The lower surface is covered with velvety to shaggy hairs. The flowers are usually arranged on the ends of branches or in leaf axils in oval to cylindrical clusters of 6 to 20 on a rachis long. The flowers are red with yellow or orange blotches, the pistil long. Flowering occurs in most months, in the absence of snow, and the fruit is a follicle long.^{[1] [2]}

Taxonomy

Grevillea miqueliana was first formally described in 1855 by Ferdinand von Mueller in his Definitions of rare or hitherto undescribed Australian plants. The species epithet honours Dutch botanist Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel.^{[3] [4]}

In 2000, William Molyneux and Val Stajsic described two subspecies of G. miqueliana in the Flora of Australia, and in 2006, they described a third in the journal Muelleria.^[5] The names of the three subspecies are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

• Grevillea miqueliana subsp. cincta Molyneux & Stajsic,^[6] commonly known as Selma Saddle grevillea;^{[7] [8]}
• Grevillea miqueliana F.Muell. subsp. miqueliana,^[9] commonly known as oval-leaf grevillea;^{[10] [11]}
• Grevillea miqueliana subsp. moroka Molyneux & Stajsic^[12] commonly known as Moroka grevillea.^{[13] [14]}

The main difference between the morphology of the subspecies is the nature of the hairs on the branches and leaves.^[15]

Distribution and habitat

Grevillea miqueliana occurs in montane areas of eastern Victoria. Subspecies cincta is only known from two sites in subalpine areas of central Gippsland, including Mount Selma. Subspecies miqueliana is more widely distributed in central Gippsland and alpine areas of Victoria, at altitudes between and subsp. moroka is found at altitudes between in alpine areas, include the Moroka River region.

Conservation status

Subspecies cincta is listed as "endangered" and subspp. miqueliana and moroka are listed as "vulnerable" under the Victorian Government Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.

External links

• Herbarium specimen at Kew Botanic Gardens

Notes and References

1. Web site: Grevillea miqueliana . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 10 July 2022.
2. Web site: Stajsic . Val . Molyneux . William M.. Grevillea miqueliana . Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria . 10 July 2022.
3. Web site: Grevillea miqueliana. APNI. 11 July 2022.
4. Book: von Mueller . Ferdinand . Definitions of rare or hitherto undescribed Australian plants . 1855 . Goodhugh & Trembath . Melbourne . 50–51 . 11 July 2022.
5. Stajsic . Val . Molyneux . William M. . Taxonomic studies in the Grevillea victoriae F.Muell. species complex (Proteaceae: Grevilleoideae) I. Descriptions of nine previously segregated, and three new taxa. . Muelleria . 2006 . 22 . 50–51 . 11 July 2022.
6. Web site: Grevillea miqueliana subsp. cincta. Australian Plant Census. 11 July 2022.
7. Web site: Advisory List of Rare Or Threatened Plants In Victoria - 2014 . Department of Environment and Primary Industries (Victoria). 26 . 18 December 2014.
8. Web site: Stajsic . Val . Molyneux . William M.. Grevillea miqueliana subsp. cincta . Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria . 11 July 2022.
9. Web site: Grevillea miqueliana subsp. miqueliana. Australian Plant Census. 11 July 2022.
10. Web site: Grevillea miqueliana subsp. miqueliana . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 10 July 2022.
11. Web site: Stajsic . Val . Molyneux . William M.. Grevillea miqueliana subsp. miqueliana . Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria . 11 July 2022.
12. Web site: Grevillea miqueliana subsp. moroka. Australian Plant Census. 11 July 2022.
13. Web site: Grevillea miqueliana subsp. moroka . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 10 July 2022.
14. Web site: Stajsic . Val . Molyneux . William M.. Grevillea miqueliana subsp. moroka . Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria . 11 July 2022.
15. Web site: Key to the subspecies of Grevillea miqueliana . Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria . 11 July 2022.