Hibbertia rufa, commonly known as brown guinea flower,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Dilleniaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a weak, prostrate to scrambling shrub with wiry branches, linear leaves and yellow flowers with three or four stamens arranged in a cluster on one side of the two carpels.

Brown guinea flower
Hibbertia rufa in the ANBG
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Dilleniales
Family: Dilleniaceae
Genus: Hibbertia
Species:
H. rufa
Binomial name
Hibbertia rufa
Synonyms[1]

Hibbertia stricta var. pedunculata Maiden & Betche

Description edit

Hibbertia rufa is a weak, prostrate to scrambling shrub with wiry branches that sometimes form adventitious roots. The leaves are linear to lance-shaped, 3.1–8 mm (0.12–0.31 in) long and 0.8–1.4 mm (0.031–0.055 in) wide on a petiole 0.2–0.54 mm (0.0079–0.0213 in) long. The edges of the leaves are rolled under and there is a tuft of hairs on the tip. The flowers are arranged on the ends of short side-shoots on a peduncle 5–15 mm (0.20–0.59 in) long, with linear to triangular bracts 0.5–1.4 mm (0.020–0.055 in) long at the base. The sepals are joined at the base, the outer lobes 3.0–4.5 mm (0.12–0.18 in) long and the inner lobes longer and broader. The petals are yellow, egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 5.5–7.0 mm (0.22–0.28 in) long with a deep notch at the tip. There are three or four stamens in a single cluster on one side of the two glabrous carpels, each with four ovules.[2][3][4][5]

Taxonomy edit

Hibbertia rufa was first formally described in 1955 by Norman Arthur Wakefield in The Victorian Naturalist from specimens collected near the Cann River in 1948.[6][7]

Distribution and habitat edit

This hibbertia mainly grows on the edges of swamps and in wet heathland in scattered locations on the coast and tablelands of New South Wales, in far eastern Victoria and near St Helens in north-eastern Tasmania.[2][3][4]

Conservation status edit

Hibbertia rufa is classified as "rare" under the Tasmanian Government Threatened Species Protection Act 1995.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Hibbertia rufa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Hibbertia rufa". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b Toelken, Hellmut R.; Stajsic, Val. "Hibbertia rufa". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "Hibbertia rufa Threatened Species Listing Statement". Tasmanian Government Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  5. ^ Toelken, Hellmut R. (2012). "Notes on Hibbertia (Dilleniaceae) 8. Seven new species, a new combination and four new subspecies from subgen. Hemistemma, mainly from the central coast of New South Wales" (PDF). Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. 25 (1): 78–79. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  6. ^ "Hibbertia rufa". APNI. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  7. ^ Wakefiled, Norman A. (1955). "Flora of Victoria: New species and other additions - 7". The Victorian Naturalist. 72 (8): 119. Retrieved 8 September 2021.