Petrophile filifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to southwestern Western Australia. It is a small shrub with curved, long, needle-shaped leaves and more or less spherical heads of hairy cream-coloured to pale yellow flowers.
| Petrophile filifolia | |
|---|---|
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| In Kings Park, Perth | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Proteales |
| Family: | Proteaceae |
| Genus: | Petrophile |
| Species: | P. filifolia
|
| Binomial name | |
| Petrophile filifolia | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Description
editPetrophile filifolia is a shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in). Its leaves are glabrous, curved, needle-shaped, 130–280 mm (5.1–11.0 in) long and 0.9–1.5 mm (0.035–0.059 in) wide. The flowers are arranged on the ends of branchlets in sessile, more or less spherical heads with a few narrow egg-shaped involucral bracts at the base. The flowers are about 17–25 mm (0.67–0.98 in) long, densely hairy and cream-coloured to pale yellow. Flowering mainly occurs from October to January and the fruit is a nut, fused with others in an oval head 15–28 mm (0.59–1.10 in) long and 14–20 mm (0.55–0.79 in) wide.[2][3]
Taxonomy
editPetrophile filifolia was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in the Transactions of the Linnean Society of London.[4][5] The specific epithet (filifolia) means "thread-leaved".[6]
In 2005, Barbara Lynette Rye and Michael C. Hislop described two subspecies in the journal Nuytsia and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
- Petrophile filifolia R.Br. subsp. filifolia;[7]
- Petrophile filifolia subsp. laxa Rye & Hislop[8] that differs from the autonym in having flowers with longer hairs on the pollen presenter.[2]
Distribution and habitat
editThis petrophile grows in a variety of habitats between Armadale, the Perup River, the Stirling Range and Albany in the Jarrah Forest biogeographical region of southwestern Western Australia.[3] Subspecies laxa grows in woodland and heath in the Armadale-Wandering area.[2][9]
Conservation status
editPetrophile filifolia is classified as "not threatened"[3] but subsp. laxa is classified as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.[9][10]
References
edit- ^ a b "Petrophile filifolia". Australian Plant Census. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ a b c Rye, Barbara L.; Hislop, Michael C. (2005). "A taxonomic update of Petrophile sect. Arthrostigma (Proteaceae)" (PDF). Nuytsia: 467–470. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ a b c "Petrophile filifolia". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ "Petrophile filifolia". APNI. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ Brown, Robert (1810). "On the Proteaceae of Jussieu". Transactions of the Linnean Society. 10: 69. Archived from the original on 2021-07-30. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. pp. 198–199. ISBN 9780958034180.
- ^ "Petrophile filifolia subsp. filifolia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ "Petrophile filifolia subsp. laxa". Australian Plant Census. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ a b "Petrophile filifolia subsp. laxa". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2020.