Grevillea thyrsoides explained

Grevillea thyrsoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae, and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a small, spreading or low-lying shrub, with pinnatisect to comb-like leaves, the end lobes linear, and clusters of hairy pinkish-red flowers.

Description

Grevillea thyrsoides is a spreading or low-lying shrub that typically grows to high and wide, sometimes forming a mound. Its leaves are long and pinnatisect with 15 to 30 closely space, linear lobes often arranged comb-like on either side of the leaf rachis. The lobes are long, wide, and sometimes sharply pointed. The edges of the leaflets are rolled under, enclosing the lower surface apart from the mid-vein. The flowers are borne on one side of a trailing leafless peduncle long, the floral rachis long. The flowers are hairy, dusky pink to pale red with a bright pinkish-red style, the pistil long. Flowering mainly from August to November, and the fruit is a hairy follicle long.[1] [2] [3]

Taxonomy

Grevillea thyrsoides was first formerly described in 1855 by Swiss botanist Carl Meissner in the William Jackson Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany based on plant material collected by James Drummond "between Dundagaran and Smith River".[4] [5] The specific epithet (thyrsoides) means "thyrse-like".[6]

In 1993, Peter M. Olde and Neil R. Marriott described two subspecies in the journal Nuytsia and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

Distribution and habitat

The grevillea grows in heath and Banksia mallee. Subspecies pustulata occurs in the area between Marchagee, Coorow and Watheroo in the Avon Wheatbelt and Geraldton Sandplains bioregions of south-western Western Australia and subsp. thyrsoides between Badgingarra and Dandaragan in the Geraldton Sandplains and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions.

Conservation status

Both subspecies of G. thyrsoides are listed as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that they are poorly known and known from only a few locations but are not under imminent threat.[11]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Grevillea thyrsoides . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 24 March 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 . 342.
  3. Olde . Peter M. . Marriott . Noel R. . New species and taxonomic changes in Grevillea (Proteaceae: Grevilleoideae) from south-west Western Australia. . Nuytsia . 1993 . 9 . 2 . 265–268 . 24 March 2023.
  4. Web site: Grevillea thyrsoides. APNI. 23 March 2023.
  5. Meissner . Carl . New Proteaceae of Australia. . Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany . 1855 . 7 . 77 . 24 March 2023.
  6. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 3rd. 324.
  7. Web site: Grevillea thyrsoides subsp. pustulata . Australian Plant Census . 23 March 2023.
  8. Web site: Grevillea thyrsoides subsp. pustulata . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 21 March 2023.
  9. Web site: Grevillea thyrsoides subsp. thyrsoides . Australian Plant Census . 23 March 2023.
  10. Web site: Grevillea thyrsoides subsp. thyrsoides . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 24 March 2023.
  11. Web site: Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna. Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. 24 March 2023.