Petrophile misturata is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to southwestern Western Australia. It is a shrub with simple and pinnate, needle-shaped leaves and spherical heads of hairy, dull yellow flowers.

Petrophile misturata
A=flowering branchlet; B=flower; C=fruiting cone; D,E=upper and lower surfaces of nut
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Petrophile
Species:
P. misturata
Binomial name
Petrophile misturata

Description edit

Petrophile misturata is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.5–1 m (1 ft 8 in – 3 ft 3 in) and has hairy branchlets and leaves. The leaves are simple and pinnate with up to five needle-shaped, sharply-pointed leaves, 8–16 mm (0.31–0.63 in) long and 0.8–1 mm (0.031–0.039 in) wide. The flowers are arranged on the ends of branchlets in sessile, spherical heads about 10 mm (0.39 in) in diameter, with a few tapering, hairy involucral bracts at the base. The flowers are about 10 mm (0.39 in) long, dull yellow and hairy. Flowering occurs from September to October and the fruit is a nut, fused with others in a spherical head about 12 mm (0.47 in) in diameter.[2][3]

Taxonomy edit

Petrophile misturata was first formally described in 1995 by Donald Bruce Foreman in Flora of Australia from material collected by Kenneth Newbey near Quairading in 1964.[4] The specific epithet (misturata) means "mingled" or "mixed", referring to the varying leaf shapes.[2][5]

Distribution and habitat edit

This petrophile grows in sand mostly near Quairading, sometimes near Tammin and between Hines Hill and Bruce Rock, in the Avon Wheatbelt biogeographic region of southwestern Western Australia.[2][3]

Conservation status edit

Petrophile misturata is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ "Petrophile misturata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Foreman, David B. "Petrophile misturata". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Petrophile misturata". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  4. ^ "Petrophile misturata". APNI. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  5. ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 254. ISBN 9780958034180.