Verticordia galeata

Verticordia galeata
specimen at Kings Park, Perth

Priority Two — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Verticordia
Species: V. galeata
Binomial name
Verticordia galeata
A.S.George

Verticordia galeata is a woody shrub found in Western Australia. The flowers appear between October and November, are honey scented and bright yellow, and possess an inflated appendage, a hood, that nearly covers the tip of the stamens. The staminode is pointed and triangular. The sepals are deeply and finely divided, and around 5 millimetres long. These are held erect, on long and slender peduncles up to 20 mm long, by the irregular or corymbosely arranged upper branches. Verticordia galeata may have a single basal stem, or several, to a height and width of around one metre. The floral leaves are similar to those on the stem, needle-like and between 10 to 30 mm in length; these long leaves distinguish the species from other verticordia.

The known populations, of which there are few, are found on red sand, amid sandstone gorges, in the open scrublands of its small range around the lower Murchison River, located in the northern section of the Geraldton Sandplains region. It does not possess a lignotuber, so is susceptible to altered fire regimes; the distribution range is within the Kalbarri National Park, a protected area that has become vulnerable to high intensity fires.

It was first described by Alex George in 1991, based on a type collection made by Bob Wemm and George in 1984. The conservation status of the species is listed as poorly known taxa (P2) on the Declared Rare and Priority Flora List.

References


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