Persoonia pungens

Persoonia pungens

Priority Three — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Persoonia
Species:
P. pungens
Binomial name
Persoonia pungens

Persoonia pungens is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect to spreading or low-lying shrub with densely hairy young branchlets, twisted elliptic to oblong, sharply-pointed leaves, and glabrous, bright yellow flowers borne in groups of up to five.

Description

Persoonia pungens is an erect to spreading or low-lying shrub that typically grows to a height of 20–80 cm (7.9–31.5 in) with smooth, mottled bark and young branchlets that are densely covered with greyish hair when young. The leaves are elliptic to oblong, twisted through one complete turn, 5–15 mm (0.20–0.59 in) long and 1–5 mm (0.039–0.197 in) wide with a sharply-pointed tip. The flowers are arranged in groups of up to five along a rachis up to 5 mm (0.20 in) long, each flower on a pedicel 1–3 mm (0.039–0.118 in) long, with a leaf or a scale leaf at the base. The tepals are bright yellow and glabrous on the outside, 9–12.5 mm (0.35–0.49 in) long. Flowering occurs from September to December and the fruit is an oval drupe 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) long and 5–6.5 mm (0.20–0.26 in) wide.[2][3][4][5]

Taxonomy

Persoonia pungens was first formally described in 1912 by William Vincent Fitzgerald in the Journal of Botany, British and Foreign.[4][6][7]

Distribution and habitat

This geebung grows in heath from near Coorow to Kellerberrin in the Avon Wheatbelt and Geraldton Sandplains biogeographic regions in the south-west of Western Australia.[3]

Conservation status

Persoonia pungens is classified as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife[5] meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Persoonia pungens". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Persoonia pungens W.Fitzg". Flora of Australia Online. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government.
  3. ^ a b Weston, Peter H. "Persoonia pungens". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b Weston, Peter H. (1994). "The Western Australian species of subtribe Persooniinae (Proteaceae: Persooniodeae: Persoonieae)". Telopea. 6 (1): 107–108. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Persoonia pungens". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  6. ^ "Persoonia pungens". APNI. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  7. ^ Fitzgerald, William Vincent (1912). "New West Australian Plants". Journal of Botany, British and Foreign. 50: 23. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 1 November 2020.