Verticordia nitens

Verticordia nitens
Verticordia nitens in Curtis's 1861[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Verticordia
Species: V. nitens
Binomial name
Verticordia nitens
(Lindl.) Endl.
Synonyms

Chrysorhoe nitens Lindl.

Verticordia nitens is an upright shrub, 0.45 to 1.8 metres tall, with glistening and perfumed flower heads that appear between October and February in Southwest Australia. The small compact and erect flowers have been noted for their beauty since discovery by Europeans.

Many common names, such as Christmas Morrison, were applied to this species after the professional plant collector William Morrison.

Description

The species will sometimes reach heights of 3 metres, though usually between 0.45 and 1.8 metres, and can branch out to 0.9 metres from upper parts of a solitary basal stem. V. nitens does not possess a lignotuber. The leaves are needle-like, but soft, and are uniform as either a stem or floral leaf. The branching arrangement is described as corymbose, whereby the terminus of the lower branches extend to the level of the upper ones; the habit is notably slender in this species.[2] Combined with the 'corymb-like' arrangement of the compounded single flowers, the presentation of the numerous flowers is flattened to only slightly rounded.[3] The bunched mass of flowers are sweet in scent and vary in colour from bright glistening heads whose petals are golden, to orange, to a lemon yellow colour, in the taller (3 metre) plants of the Gingin area. The style in this species of Verticordia unfurls to its full length after the flower bud opens, fern-like, rather than being folded or increasing its length afterward.[4]

Distribution

Verticordia nitens is restricted to the Swan Coastal Plain, its range extends as far north as Moore River, and as far south as Yarloop, not reaching Harvey. The urban sprawl around the states capital has created disjunct populations to its north and south.

The species grows in deep white sand, or brown[5] or grey sand over this, and is often associated with low banksia woodlands north of Perth to Moore River. The flowering period coincides with Nuytsia floribunda, the Western Australian Christmas Tree, also found on the Swan Coastal Plain; their conspicuous orange display is well known in the region.[6]

The plant has often been situated in the path of urban development. This encroachment on the plant's habitat is likely to place the species under duress if continued. An appearance is likely in the unmanaged medians and verges of urban areas, but clearing and altered ecology restrict their former range. Populations once found on river reserves, such as one at Success Hill near Bassendean, have since disappeared.[7]

Ecology

V. nitens has been studied for its role as an example of a pollination by an oligolectic species of bee, a relationship described in 1992.[8] The flowers are not attractive to typical insect pollinators, except for a single species of solitary bee Euryglossa morrisoni (or Euhesma, of family Colletidae), which feeds on nectar, pollen, and the oil retained on the anthers of this species and V. aurea.[9]

The species is not considered to be threatened by extinction as it is common and populations are large. Naturally occurring plants have been heavily targeted for the cut flower industry, intermittent reports from 1993 record trends upward of 250,000 stems per annum,[10] but the plant recovers well after harvesting. These later figures show a reduction after closer scrutiny of harvests, though much was obtained from private land, leading to increased sustainability when combined with greater care by pickers. V. nitens' records in the early 1980s were 83 000 bunches, the majority of the 2 000,000 verticordia stems in an annual harvest that sometimes permanently damaged the shrubs.[11] Collection from Crown Land has remained permissible, with industry self-regulating its harvesters, but this may destroy local populations on reserves where this has occurred; the reduction in seeds in the soil can expose these populations to an inability to recover from bushfire in time to sustain its pollinator.[12]

The shrub is listed for it susceptibility to Phytophthora cinnamomi, and as an 'indicator species' it is used to detect its presence in banksia woodland, though without observations of its ability to recover.[13][14]

Cultivation

Plate 1 from John Lindley's A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony: "Chrysorhoe nitens"

The plant was regarded as highly desirable by gardeners in England. The spectacular display, "strikingly beautiful", was expected to be marketable, yet it has presented difficulties in its propagation. It was introduced to English gardens in 1840, but was not known to have flowered until 1861. The introduction to the eastern states of Australia has met with some success, due to the refining of the technique of propagation and the application of early pruning. Heavy pruning was first suggested by James Drummond, an early collector and promoter of the regions flora.

The species was mentioned in the early survey, A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony (Edwards's Botanical Register, 1837), which was referred to an 1861 notice in Curtis's Botanical Magazine by W J Hooker, quoting Lindley,[15]

"'the magnificent Chrysorrhoë nitens, whose yellow flowers, of metallic lustre, form masses of golden stars some feet in diameter.' Ever since, it has been the desire of nurserymen and others engaged in horticulture, to import this lovely plant; …"

In these, they note the failure of early attempts to propagate the species in England, the seeds sent from the Swan River Colony mostly failed to germinate, or the plant did not reach maturity. The Veitch Nurseries successfully raised a plant, providing the flowering specimen in August for the illustration by Walter Fitch, but a note in Hortus Veitchii (1906) records the disappointing results and as "apparently lost to British gardens".[16][17] Whether this species was amongst those grown from seeds supplied to Europe in the nineteenth century is lacking evidence and detail.

Later cultivation techniques made use of cuttings from lower parts of the plant, propagated from soft to semi-hardened wood, to produce longer living specimens. Cuttings taken between autumn to spring strike readily. Seedlings produced in cultivated gardens are rare, due to the absence of its pollinator. The need for study and development of cultivation techniques was identified by Alf Gray in 1966, and suggested this was not beyond regular commercial interests. Early attempts showed poor development in root structure, and susceptibility to fungal diseases present barriers to development as a crop or garden plant.[18] The species has been less successful as an introduction to the eastern states, suffering fungal conditions after rains and remains vulnerable to root rotting—attributed to Phytophthora—in dryer conditions that spare other plants. All members of V. sect. Chrysorhoe are noted for the vulnerability to infection of the rapid growth of soft wood, but this is especially destructive to V. nitens in cultivation. Controls include pruning below sites of infestation, which often appear near the growing tip, results in bushier and more resilient plants for gardens,[19] and study groups have trialled the removal of flowers after downpours. White oil controls used on other verticordia are damaging to V. nitens. Techniques for cultivation for the cut flower industry, replacing the natural harvest, require further development for commercial viability.[20]

Cultural use

The plant has traditional names Kodjeningara and Kotyeningara,[21] and common names such as Glistening Verticordia or those deriving from Morrison—later extended to similar species—these include Morrison Featherflower, Morrison-flower, and Orange or Yellow Morrison.[22] The name of early collector, William Morrison from Kew, was attached to V. nitens, and "Morrison flower" was extended to the common name for many similar and well known species. Morrison was asked by Seymour Meares, the son of Richard Goldsmith Meares, as the botanist Drummond was unavailable to him.[23] Meares' request from James Mangles was to deliver material for the cultivation of "Chrysorhoe nitens" in England, and unable to recall this name he applied that of the collector as a label. Until this fact was noticed by the historian Rica Erickson, the common name was presumed to commemorate Alexander Morrison, the government botanist at the colony.[24]

"Fully expanded flower" detail from Fitch's 1861 illustration

Besides the 1861 illustration by Fitch, V. nitens was included in Constance Miller's collection of watercolours, The Western Australian Floral Birthday Book 1912, Emily Pelloe painted a portrait of the species in 1925, and full colour photograph was printed in Gardner's West Australian Wildflowers, 1935, the earliest impression of this work. Besides the illustration given to every taxon's description in Elizabeth George's book on the genus by Margaret Pieroni, this species was selected with the 200 plants she painted for Discovering Wildflowers of Western Australia in 1983.[25]

Verticordia nitens is commonly dried or preserved, with uses in a variety of arts and crafts, their exquisite arrangement of flowers and leaves being set in resin, as topiary trees, or decoration of cake. Flowering stems are readily available and easily preserved as pressed specimens, and these also appear in decorative applications. In addition to widespread use in flower arranging, they are used locally as a "Western Australian Christmas" decoration.[26] Cuttings of the flowers retain colour and perfume, for up to 12 months, and this is one of few Verticordia species that can be hung and dried immediately, without a period in water. Another technique applied to V. nitens involves steeping cuttings in glycerine and hot water before drying, this affects colour but avoids flowers and leaves becoming brittle. They probably comprise the greatest part of Verticordia exported by the state's cut flower industry.

Taxonomy

The type specimen for this species was first collected in the 1830s somewhere around the Swan River, Western Australia.[27][28] It was described by Endlicher in 1838 as a member of the Verticordia genus, amongst the earliest of accepted descriptions.[29] John Lindley had previously described the species as Chrysorhoë nitens, its placement within Verticordia was attributed to publication by Schauer in 1841.[30] However, Endlicher's description as Verticordia nitida in 1838 is recognised as an orthographic variant of the current combination.[31] Lindley's generic epithet of this description—presumably from Greek for 'golden' and 'stream'—was revived when Alex George assigned the species to Verticordia subgenus Chrysoma as the section Chrysorhoe.[32] The staminodes of this species, infertile and modified reproductive organs, are notably shorter than others in the section Chrysorhoe. The two other species in this section can be differentiated from the usually bright orange display of Verticordia nitens by the larger, more yellow to golden petals of the flowers, with broad staminodes, found on Verticordia aurea; and the early flowering, shorter staminodes and style, and lemon colour, of Verticordia patens.

Verticordia nitens in a winter-wet area north of Ellenbrook, Western Australia

George's arrangement within the genus can be summarised as,

Verticordia (101 species)
V. subg. Chrysoma (21 spp.)
V. sect. Chrysoma
V. sect. Jugata
V. sect. Unguiculata
V. sect. Sigalantha
V. sect. Chrysorhoe (3 spp.)
V. patens
V. nitens
V. aurea
V. sect. Cooloomia
V. sect. Synandra

Notes

  1. ↑ Fig. 1. Leaf, with a small portion of a branch. 2. Bud, with its deciduous bracteas. 3. Bud, from which the bracts have fallen. 4. Fully expanded flower. 5. Calyx-lobe. 6. Petal. 7. Ovary, cut through vertically, with the style and portion of the stamens. 8. Perfect anther:-all more or less magnifed.
  2. ↑ George 2002, p. 11.
  3. ↑ George 2002, p. 13
  4. ↑ George 2002, p. 16.
  5. ↑ Florabase
  6. ↑ George 2002, p. 3.
  7. ↑ George 2002, p. 26. pers. comm. Mary Smith
  8. ↑ George 2002, p. 17.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ "Table 20: Harvest of native flora (number of stems) in Western Australia, 1993 to 1995 and 1999". Biodiversity, Australia State of the Environment Report 2001 (Theme Report): Biodiversity issues and challenges (Disturbance regimes and biodiversity - part 3). Australian Government. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  11. ↑ George, 2002, p. 26, 27.
  12. ↑ George, 2002, p. 28.
  13. ↑ "Common plants susceptible to Phytophthora dieback". How Can I Manage It?. Dieback Working Group. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  14. ↑ Groves, E.; Hardy, G.; McComb, J. "Western Australian Native Plants Susceptible and Resistant to Phytophthora cinnamomi". Centre for Phytophthora Science & Management. Murdoch University. Retrieved 8 December 2010. List of Susceptible Species
  15. ↑ Curtis's Vol. 87. Tab. 5286.
  16. ↑ George 2002, cites op. cit. and Hooker, William Jackson. "Stove and Greenhouse Plants" Curtis's Botanical Magazine. Vol. 87. 1861
  17. ↑ Veitch, James H. (1906). "Stove and Greenhouse Plants". Hortus Veitchii: a history of the rise and progress of the nurseries of Messrs. James Veitch and sons, together with an account of the botanical collectors and hybridists employed by them …. J. Veitch & sons. p. 295.
  18. ↑ George, p. 166.
  19. ↑ Hewett
  20. ↑ George, p.46.
  21. ↑ Moore, George Fletcher (1884). "Part 2: F". Diary of ten years … A descriptive vocabulary of the language of the aborigines. London: M. Walbrook. p. 97.
  22. ↑ George 2002, p. 166
  23. ↑ George 2002, p 8. cf. James Drummond (botanist)#Collecting for Mangles
  24. ↑ George 2002, cit. Erickson, R. The Drummonds of Hawthornden
  25. ↑ George 2002, p. 65,
  26. ↑ George, 2002. p. 67–68
  27. ↑ ANGB: Chrysorhoe nitens Lindl. Lindley, J. in Hooker, W.J. (1837), Companion to the Botanical Magazine 2(24): 357 [tax. nov.] "In a letter to Mr. Robert Mangles, from a correspondent at Swan River ..."
  28. ↑ George 2002, p. 164 "Type collection … possibly near [Perth]? by (?) Toward"
  29. ↑ ANGB: Endlicher, S., Stirpium Australasicarum Herbarii Hugeliani Decades Tres: 195. 1838.
  30. ↑ Lehmann, Johann Georg Christian; Preiss, Ludwig (1844–47). "Verticordia DC., Verticordia nitens". Plantae Preissianae sive Enumeratio plantarum quas in Australasia occidentali et meridionali-occidentali annis 1838-1841 :collegit Ludovicus Preiss /Partim ab aliis partim a se ipso determinatas descriptas illustratas edidit Christianus Lehmann. Hamburgi: Sumptibus Meissneri. p. 102. Schauer 1. c. pag. 223. n. 16. tab. IV. B. fig. 1-5. Chrysorrhoë [sic] nitens Lindl. Bot. Mag. Comp. II. pag. 357.; Swan River. Bot. tab. I. In planitie arenosa supra oppidulum Guildford. Flor. Januario. Herb. Preiss. No. 173.
  31. ↑ "Verticordia nitens (Lindl.) Endl". Australian Plant Name Index. Australian National Herbarium. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  32. ↑ Verticordia sect. Chrysorhoe (Schauer) A.S.George".

References

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