Petrophile anceps explained

Petrophile anceps is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to a restricted part of the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with sharply-pointed, linear leaves and oval heads of hairy yellow flowers.

Description

Petrophile acicularis is a shrub that typically grows to a height of and has glabrous branchlets and leaves. The leaves are linear, long and wide with a sharply-pointed tip. The flowers are arranged in sessile, oval heads about long, sometimes in clusters, with many pointed involucral bracts at the base. The flowers are about long, yellow and hairy. Flowering occurs from September to October and the fruit is a nut, fused with others in a conical head about long.[1]

Taxonomy

Petrophile acicularis was first formally described in 1830 by Robert Brown in the Supplementum to his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen from material collected by William Baxter at King George's Sound.[2] [3] The specific epithet (anceps) means "double", referring to the panicle.[4]

Distribution and habitat

This petrophile is restricted to the Stirling Range where it grows in heath and scrub.

Conservation status

Petrophile acicularis is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Foreman . David B. . Petrophile anceps . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 30 November 2020.
  2. Web site: Petrophile anceps. APNI. 30 November 2020.
  3. Book: Brown. Robert. Supplementum primum prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae . 1830. London. 5 . 30 November 2020.
  4. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 132 . 3rd.