Petrophile arcuata

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Petrophile arcuata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Petrophile
Species:
P. arcuata
Binomial name
Petrophile arcuata

Petrophile arcuata is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to southwestern Western Australia. It is a spreading shrub with cylindrical leaves and oval to spherical heads of hairy yellowish flowers.

Description[edit]

Petrophile arcuata is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.7–1.5 m (2 ft 4 in – 4 ft 11 in) and has more or less glabrous branchlets. The leaves are cylindrical, 5–15 mm (0.20–0.59 in) long and 0.7–1.0 mm (0.028–0.039 in) wide. The flowers are arranged in sessile, oval to spherical heads about 12 mm (0.47 in) in diameter, with a few glabrous egg-shaped involucral bracts at the base. The flowers are about 12 mm (0.47 in) long, creamy yellow to yellow and hairy. Flowering occurs from September to October and the fruit is a nut, fused with others in a more or less spherical head 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) in diameter.[2][3]

Taxonomy[edit]

Petrophile arcuata was first formally described in 1995 by Donald Bruce Foreman in Flora of Australia.[4] The specific epithet (arcuata) means "curved like a bow", referring to leaves.[5]

Distribution and habitat[edit]

This petrophile grows in scrub along the Great Eastern Highway between Southern Cross and Coolgardie, extending south to Peak Charles in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie and Mallee biogeographic regions of southwestern Western Australia.[2][3]

Conservation status[edit]

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

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Petrophile arcuata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b Foreman, David B. "Petrophile arcuata". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Petrophile arcuata". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  4. ^ "Petrophile arcuata". APNI. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  5. ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 136. ISBN 9780958034180.