Verticordia aurea
| Verticordia aurea | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Verticordia |
| Species: | V. aurea |
| Binomial name | |
| Verticordia aurea A.S.George | |
Verticordia aurea is a woody shrub found in Western Australia, referred to by the common name Buttercups. The profusion of flowers are a rich yellow or orange, presented on the corymbosely formed upper branches of the shrub, at a height between 0.6 and 1.5 metres. The flowering period is from September to December, which, with its associates, make a striking display of dappled colour across heaths and plains.
It is found on deep sand and sandplains in the Geraldton Sandplains and the Swan Coastal Plain region of Southwest Australia, the soil type may be grey to black or yellow sands. This verticordia does not possess a lignotuber, has a single basal stem, and maybe slender and sparse or bushy in its form. It is found growing in woodland, alongside Eucalyptus todtiana, Banksia menziesii and Xylomelum angustifolium, and shrub or heathlands with other members of its genus. The species is closely allied to Verticordia nitens and V. patens, the three members of Verticordia sect. Chrysorhoe, from which it is most easily distinguished by its larger, more deeply yellow or golden flowers.
The first description was by Alex George in 1991. The state's Department of Environment and Conservation identifies this species as rare and currently secure. Some populations in the distribution range may be threatened.
Ecology
The flowers are not attractive to typical insect pollinators, except for a single species of solitary bee Euryglossa aureophila (Colletidae), previously Euhesma aureophila, which feeds on nectar, pollen, and the oil released from the anthers.[1]
References
- ↑ Houston, T. F.; et al. (1993). "Apparent mutualism between Verticordia nitens and V. aurea (Myrtaceae) and their oil-ingesting bee pollinators (Hymenoptera, Colletidae)". Australian Journal of Botany 41 (3): 369–380. doi:10.1071/BT9930369.
- Elizabeth A. (Berndt) George; Margaret Pieroni (illustrator) (2002). Verticordia: the turner of hearts. Crawley: University of Western Australia Press. pp. 168, pl. 19. ISBN 1-876268-46-8.
- "Verticordia aurea". FloraBase. Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia.