Beaufortia incana

Beaufortia incana, commonly known as grey-leaved beaufortia,[2] is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with crowded leaves that appear whitish due to their covering of fine, soft hairs on both surfaces. It has almost spherical heads of red flowers in spring.

Grey-leaved beaufortia
In Wingedine Nature Reserve near Kojonup
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Beaufortia
Species:
B. incana
Binomial name
Beaufortia incana
Synonyms[1]
  • Beaufortia macrostemon var. incana Benth.
  • Melaleuca cinerea Craven & R.D.Edwards

Description

Beaufortia incana is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.5–2 m (1 ft 8 in–6 ft 7 in). The leaves are arranged alternately, crowded on the younger stems, linear to lance-shaped and arranged in alternate pairs (decussate) so that they make four rows along the stems. The leaves are 5–12 mm (0.20–0.47 in) long and have a covering of fine hairs on both surfaces.[2][3][4]

The flowers are red, arranged in dense heads about 25 mm (0.98 in) in diameter on the ends of the branches and are surrounded by long soft hairs. The flowers have 5 sepals, 5 petals and 5 bundles of stamens. The stamens give the flowers their colour and are in bundles of 3, joined for most of their length, the bundles of different lengths. Flowering occurs from August to December and is followed by fruit that are woody capsules.[2][3][4]

Habit

Taxonomy and naming

Beaufortia macrostemon var. incana was first formally described in 1867 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis.[3][5] In 1972, Alex George raised it to species status in Nuytsia.[6][7] The specific epithet ("incana") is a Latin word meaning "quite gray".[8]

Distribution and habitat

Beaufortia incana grows in kwongan and shrubland in the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest, Mallee and Swan Coastal Plain biogeographic regions. It grows in soils derived from laterite on hills and sandplains.[2][4][9]

Conservation

Beaufortia incana is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.[2]

References
  1. "Beaufortia incana". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  2. "Beaufortia incana". FloraBase. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  3. Bentham, George; von Mueller, Ferdinand (1866). Flora Australiensis (Volume 3). London: Lovell Reeve and Co. p. 167. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  4. Corrick, Margaret G.; Fuhrer, Bruce A. (2009). Wildflowers of Southern Western Australia (3rd ed.). [Kenthurst, N.S.W.]: Rosenberg Pub. p. 113. ISBN 9781877058844.
  5. "Beaufortia macrostemon var. incana". APNI. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  6. "Beaufortia incana". APNI. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  7. George, Alex S. (1972). "Taxonomic notes on Western Australian species of Pityrodia, Beaufortia and Verticordia. Nuytsia 1(3):". Nuytsia. 1 (3): 290. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  8. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 381.
  9. Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora : a descriptive catalogue. Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 349. ISBN 0646402439.
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