Persoonia saundersiana

Summary

Persoonia saundersiana is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, spreading shrub with hairy young branchlets, linear leaves, and bright yellow flowers borne in groups of up to twenty-five on a rachis up to 100 mm (3.9 in) that continues to grow after flowering.

Persoonia saundersiana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Persoonia
Species:
P. saundersiana
Binomial name
Persoonia saundersiana
Synonyms[1]
  • Linkia diadena (F.Muell.) Kuntze
  • Linkia saundersiana (Meisn.) Kuntze
  • Persoonia diadena F.Muell.

Description edit

Persoonia saundersiana is an erect to spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.5–5 m (1 ft 8 in – 16 ft 5 in) with smooth bark apart from rough, peeling bark near the base, and young branchlets that are covered with greyish hair. The leaves are linear, 40–210 mm (1.6–8.3 in) long, 1–3.2 mm (0.039–0.126 in) wide and curved upwards. The flowers are arranged in groups of up to twenty-five along a rachis up to 100 mm (3.9 in) long that continues to grow after flowering, each flower on a hairy pedicel 3.5–20 mm (0.14–0.79 in) long with a leaf or a scale leaf at the base. The tepals are bright yellow, 9.5–14 mm (0.37–0.55 in) long, the side tepals prominently asymmetrical and the lower tepal sac-like. Flowering mostly occurs from September to November and the fruit is a smooth, elliptical drupe 7–11 mm (0.28–0.43 in) long and 5–7.5 mm (0.20–0.30 in) wide.[2][3][4][5]

Taxonomy edit

Persoonia saundersiana was first formally described in 1855 by Carl Meissner in Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany from specimens collected by James Drummond.[6][7]

Distribution and habitat edit

This geebung grows in scrub and mallee heath in the area between Minnivale, Tammin, Lake Hope and Comet Vale in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Geraldton Sandplains, Mallee, Murchison and Yalgoo biogeographic regions in the south-west of Western Australia.[3][5]

Conservation status edit

Persoonia saundersiana is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.[5]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Persoonia saundersiana". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Persoonia saundersiana Kippist". Flora of Australia Online. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government.
  3. ^ a b Weston, Peter H. "Persoonia saundersiana". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  4. ^ Weston, Peter H. (1994). "The Western Australian species of subtribe Persooniinae (Proteaceae: Persooniodeae: Persoonieae)". Telopea. 6 (1): 152–154. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Persoonia saundersiana". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  6. ^ "Persoonia saundersiana". APNI. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  7. ^ Meissner, Carl; Hooker, William Jackson (1855). "New Proteaceae of Australia". Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany. 7: 72. Retrieved 5 November 2020.