Adenanthos detmoldii

It grows as an erect shrub to 4 m (13 ft) in height, with hairy branches and long, narrow leaves up to 80 mm length and about 5 mm wide. The flowers, which appear between August and November, consist of a tubular perianth about 25 mm long, and a style about 40 mm long. The perianth is yellow with an orange throat that becomes brown following pollination.[4]

The type specimen of A. detmoldii was collected from the vicinity of the Blackwood River around 1870,[5] and sent to Ferdinand von Mueller who published the species in Volume 8 of his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae in 1874. The original type specimen cites "Blackwood-River; J. Forrest",[6] and this has sometimes been interpreted as referring to John Forrest,[7] but John Forrest's brother James is known to have "achieved some repute by making botanical collections of the flora of the Blackwood district for Baron von Mueller",[8] and an isotype lodged at the Botanical Garden in Berlin has been labelled by Ludwig Diels "Blackwood River leg. Jas. Forrest".[9]

Mueller assigned the species to A. sect. Eurylaema,[6] defined as containing those species with perianth tubes that are curved and swollen above the middle.[10] The specific epithet detmoldii was said to be in honour of his friend William Detmold.[6]

A. detmoldii was retained in A. sect. Eurylaema in Ernest Charles Nelson's 1978 revision of Adenanthos,[5] and again in his 1995 treatment of the genus for the Flora of Australia series. The placement of A. cuneatus in Nelson's arrangement of Adenanthos may be summarised as follows:[4]

Adenanthos

A. sect. Eurylaema

A. detmoldii

A. barbiger

A. obovatus

A. × pamela

A. sect. Adenanthos (29 species, 8 subspecies)

This species frequently hybridises with Adenanthos obovatus; the resulting hybrids are known as Adenanthos × pamela.[4]

A. detmoldii is restricted to the vicinity of the Scott and Blackwood Rivers east of Augusta, Western Australia. Unusually for Adenanthos species, it favours damp winter-wet, sandy flats, where it co-occurs with Banksia ser. Dryandra species, Grevillea species, grasses and sedges. It is often the most abundant shrub where it occurs.[5]

It is classified as Priority Four - Rare on the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation's Declared Rare and Priority Flora List.[1] That is, it is a taxon which, though rare, does not appear to be threatened.[11] It is said to be now largely confined to road verges because most of its range has been cleared for agriculture,[4] though in 1978 Nelson still held out some hope that "[i]t may be common in wet swamp areas that are not accessible and have not been drained."[5]

It is highly susceptible to Phytophthora cinnamomi dieback.[12]

The species prefers well-drained, light soils in full sun to part shade,[13] though, as its natural occurrence in winter-wet areas would suggest, it is hardier to poor drainage than most Adenanthos species.[3] Naturally a dry-summer plant, it performs unexpectedly well in areas with wet or humid summers, though it is vulnerable to grey mould in such climates. Propagation is by cuttings of semi-mature growth.[13]

• 
  Flower detail
• 
  Foliage
• 
  in situ

• "Adenanthos detmoldii F.Muell". Flora of Australia Online. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government.
• "Adenanthos detmoldii F.Muell". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
• "Adenanthos detmoldii F.Muell". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.