Grevillea raybrownii explained

Grevillea raybrownii is a flowering shrub in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It has divided, pointed leaves and dense clusters of flowers usually at the end of branches.

Description

Grevillea raybrownii is a straggling shrub growing to tall. The leaves are linear and divide into 3-5 narrow lobes long on slightly intersecting branchlets that are smooth and rusty coloured when young. The lobes are spreading, sharply pointed, long and wide. The leaf upper surface is smooth and the underside has two grooves. The inflorescence is a dense cluster of about 40 flowers up to long, at the base, brownish coloured when in bud on a peduncle about long, at the end of branches or in the leaf axils. The perianth is white with a brownish limb, the inside is smooth and the outside covered in flattened dense silky hairs. The pistil is long and the style smooth. Flowering occurs in spring and the dry fruit is about long and densely covered in silky hairs.[1]

Taxonomy and naming

Grevillea raybrownii was first formally described in 1994 by Peter Olde and Neil Marriott and the description was published in Telopea.[2] [3] The specific epithet (raybrownii) is in honour of Ray Brown, for his contribution to the horticulture of the genus Grevillea. Brown runs Illawarra Grevillea Park at Bulli.[2] [4]

Distribution and habitat

This species has a restricted distribution, it grows in sandy, gravelly loams in dry sclerophyll forest, mostly on ridge tops, occasionally on slopes, between Dapto, Robertson and Berrima in New South Wales.[3]

Conservation status

Grevillea raybrownii is listed as a "vulnerable species" under the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Olde . Peter . Marriott . Neil . Flora of Australia Volume 17A Proteaceae 2 Grevillea . 1994 . ABRS Canberra . 0-643-05969-5.
  2. Web site: Grevillea raybrownii . Australian Plant Name Index . 20 January 2021.
  3. Olde . Peter . Marriott . Neil . Taxonomic studies in Grevillea triternata and Grevillea ramosissima (Proteaceae: Grevilleoideae). . Telopea . 1994 . 5 . 4 . 774 . 20 January 2021.
  4. Web site: Howes . Jeff . Clarke . Dan . 30 July 2021 . Grevillea raybrownii - Ray's grevillea . 6 August 2024 . Australian Plants Society NSW.
  5. Web site: Grevillea raybrownii . NSW Government . NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment . 22 January 2021.