Darwinia speciosa

Darwinia speciosa
In the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Myrtaceae
Genus:	Darwinia
Species:	D. speciosa
Binomial name
Darwinia speciosa (Meisn.) Benth.[1]
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms[1]
Genetyllis speciosa Meisn.

Darwinia speciosa is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a dwarf, spreading or prostrate shrub with narrowly oblong leaves arranged in opposite pairs, and greenish flowers surrounded by larger dark red or brownish involucral bracts.

Description

Darwinia speciosa is a dwarf, erect, spreading or prostrate shrub that typically grows to a height of 10–30 cm (3.9–11.8 in). The leaves are narrowly oblong, 4–9 mm (0.16–0.35 in) long, and concave. The flowers are greenish, arranged in bell-shaped heads of 8 to 10 surrounded and hidden by dark red or brownish bracts about 30 mm (1.2 in) long. The sepals are about 6.5 mm (0.26 in) long with egg-shaped lobes, the petals triangular and about 2 mm (0.079 in) long. Flowering mainly occurs from July to November.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1857 by Carl Meissner who gave it the name Genetyllis speciosa in the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Botany from material collected near the Hill River by James Drummond.[5][6] In 1865, George Bentham changed the name to Darwinia speciosa in a later edition of the same journal.[7] The specific epithet (speciosa) means "showy".[8]

Distribution and habitat

Darwinia speciosa mainly grows in sandy kwongan in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.[2][4]

References

1. "Darwinia speciosa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
2. Corrick, Margaret G.; Fuhrer, Bruce A. (2009). Wildflowers of southern Western Australia (3rd ed.). Kenthurst, N.S.W.: Rosenberg Pub. p. 120. ISBN 9781877058844.
3. Bentham, George (1867). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 3. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 9. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
4. "Darwinia speciosa". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
5. "Genetyllis speciosa". APNI. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
6. Meissner, Carl (1857). "On some new species of Chamaelaucieae". Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society. Botany. 1: 36–37. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
7. "Darwinia speciosa". APNI. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
8. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 310. ISBN 9780958034180.