Asterolasia grandiflora

Asterolasia grandiflora is a species of weak, open shrub or sub-shrub that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has oblong, elliptical or egg-shaped leaves and pink to mauve flowers arranged in umbels of about three flowers with a thick covering of star-shaped hairs on the back of the petals.

Asterolasia grandiflora

Priority Four — Rare Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Asterolasia
Species:
A. grandiflora
Binomial name
Asterolasia grandiflora
Synonyms[1]
  • Eriostemon grandiflorus (Hook.) F.Muell.
  • Phebalium grandiflorum Hook.
  • Urocarpus grandiflorus (Hook.) Paul G.Wilson
Habit

Description

Asterolasia grandiflora is a weak, open shrub or sub-shrub that typically grows to a height of 20–60 cm (7.9–23.6 in). The leaves are oblong, elliptical or egg-shaped, 4–20 mm (0.16–0.79 in) long and 1.5–6 mm (0.059–0.236 in) wide on a short petiole. The upper surface of the leaves has star-shaped hairs when young but the lower surface is densely covered with star-shaped hairs. The flowers are arranged in three or four in leaf axils and on the ends of branchlets, each flower on a pedicel 5–17 mm (0.20–0.67 in) long and covered with thick, star-shaped hairs. The petals are pink to mauve, broadly elliptical to egg-shaped, 6–15 mm (0.24–0.59 in) long and 3–9 mm (0.12–0.35 in) wide, with thick-centred, star-shaped hairs on the back that formed a shield over the flower bud. There are between twelve and twenty-four stamens.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1863 by William Jackson Hooker who gave it the name Phebalium grandiflorum and published the description in Icones Plantarum.[5][6] In 1863, George Bentham changed the name to Asterolasia grandiflora, publishing the change in Flora Australiensis.[7][8]

Distribution and habitat

Asterolasia grandiflora grows on breakaways and hills mostly between Toodyay and York in Western Australia.[2][3]

Conservation status

Asterolasia grandiflora is classified as "Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife,[2] meaning that is rare or near threatened.[9]

References
  1. "Asterolasia grandiflora". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  2. "Asterolasia grandiflora". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  3. Wilson, Paul G. "Asterolasia grandiflora". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Canberra. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  4. Wege, Juliet A. (2017). "Taxonomic notes on Asterolasia (Rutaceae) in Western Australia to inform conservation" (PDF). Nuytsia. 28: 142–143. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  5. "Phebalium grandiflorum". APNI. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  6. Hooker, William Jackson (1844). Icones Plantarum (Volume 8). London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brwn Green & Longman. p. 724. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  7. "Asterolasia grandiflora". APNI. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  8. Bentham, George; von Mueller, Ferdinand (1863). Flora Australiensis. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. pp. 352–353. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  9. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
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