Grevillea saccata explained

Grevillea saccata, commonly known as pouched grevillea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a low, spreading to diffuse, scrambling or trailing shrub with linear to oblong or egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and small clusters of red and orange flowers with a lime-green style.

Description

Grevillea saccata is a diffuse, scrambling or trailing shrub that typically grows to between in height. Its leaves are linear to oblong or egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, mostly long and wide. The upper surface of the leaves is hairy, the edges are turned down or rolled under, and the lower surface is covered with shaggy hairs. The flowers are arranged in small clusters in leaf axils or on the ends of branches on a rachis long, and are red and orange with a lime-green style, the pistil long. Flowering occurs from June to November and the fruit is a softly-hairy, oval follicle long.[1] [2]

This grevillea is similar to G. fasciculata, G. crassifolia and G. depauperata.

Taxonomy

This species was formally described in 1870 by English botanist George Bentham in Flora Australiensis.[3] [4] The specific epithet (saccata) is a Latin word meaning "pouched", referring to the base of the flowers.[5]

Distribution

Pouched grevillea grows in woodland or open heath, sometimes in swampy places, in sandy to clayey soils on laterite and is restricted to the area between Mullering Brook in Badgingarra National Park, Dandaragan and just north of the Hill River, in the Geraldton Sandplains and the Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

Grevillea saccata is listed as "Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is rare or near threatened.[6]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Grevillea saccata . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 10 January 2023.
  2. Book: Wrigley . John W. . Fagg . Murray A. . Banksias, waratahs & grevilleas : and all other plants in the Australian Proteaceae family . 1991 . Angus & Robertson . North Ryde, NSW, Australia . 0207172773 . 325.
  3. Web site: Grevillea saccata. APNI. 10 January 2023.
  4. Book: Bentham . George . von Mueller . Ferdinand . Flora Australiensis . 5 . 1870 . Lovell Reeve & Co. . London . 450–451 . 10 January 2023.
  5. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 300 . 3rd.
  6. Web site: Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna. Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. 10 January 2023.