Biology:Grevillea brachystachya

From HandWiki
Short description: Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae from Western Australia

Short-spiked grevillea
Grevillea brachystachya.jpg
Grevillea brachystachya near Mingenew
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Grevillea
Species:
G. brachystachya
Binomial name
Grevillea brachystachya
Meisn.[2]

Grevillea brachystachya, commonly known as short-spiked grevillea,[3] is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a bushy shrub with linear leaves and more or less spherical clusters of cream-coloured to greenish flowers.

Description

Grevillea brachystachya is a bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.6 to 2 metres (2 to 7 ft) and usually has silky-hairy branchlets. The leaves are linear, 20–150 mm (0.79–5.91 in) long and 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) wide with two longitudinal grooves on the lower surface. The flowers are arranged in more or less spherical groups on a rachis 4–8 mm (0.16–0.31 in) long, and are cream-coloured to greenish-cream. The pistil is 12–17 mm (0.47–0.67 in) long and glabrous. Flowering occurs from June to November and the fruit is a glabrous, oval follicle 17–21 mm (0.67–0.83 in) long.[3][4]

Taxonomy

Grevillea brachystachya was first formally described in 1848 by Carl Meissner in Johann Georg Christian Lehmann's Plantae Preissianae from specimens collected by James Drummond in the Swan River Colony.[5][6] The specific epithet (brachystachya) means "short flower spike".[7]

Distribution and habitat

Short-spiked grevillea usually grows in woodland or shrubland and is found in scattered populations between Miling, Wongan Hills and the Murchison River in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains and Yalgoo biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.[3][4]

Conservation status

Grevillea brachystachya is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It has a severely fragmented range and an area of occupancy (AOO) of less than 100km². There is a continuing decline of the quality of habitat and the number of mature individuals of the species due to habitat clearing for agriculture, road development and mining. Populations that occur on roadside verges are threatened by weed invasion and roadside verge clearing.[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Keighery, G.; Makinson, R.; Monks, L. (2020). "Grevillea brachystachya". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T112647366A113307726. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T112647366A113307726.en. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/112647366/113307726. Retrieved 21 December 2023. 
  2. "Grevillea brachystachya". https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/108857. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Grevillea brachystachya". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife. https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/1966. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Grevillea brachystachya". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Grevillea%20brachystachya. 
  5. "Grevillea brachystachya". APNI. https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/539931. 
  6. Meissner, Carl; Lehmann, Johann G.C. (1848). Plantae Preissianae. 2. Hamburg. p. 254. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/9228#page/256/mode/1up. Retrieved 20 January 2022. 
  7. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 149. ISBN 9780958034180. 

Wikidata ☰ Q15577745 entry