Chorilaena

Chorilaena quercifolia is a bushy shrub that typically grows to a 1–4 m (3 ft 3 in–13 ft 1 in) high and 1–3 m (3 ft 3 in–9 ft 10 in) wide. The leaves are papery, broadly egg-shaped, 30–55 mm (1.2–2.2 in) long on a thin petiole about 10 mm (0.39 in) long. The flowers are usually green, sometimes yellow, white red or pink and are arranged in umbels of five on a downturned peduncle about 10 mm (0.39 in) long. The central flower is sessile, the surrounding four flowers on horizontally spreading pedicels about 4 mm (0.16 in) long. At the base of the sepals there are thread-like to spatula-shaped bracts and bracteoles that are about the same length as the flowers. The sepals are joined at the base with narrow triangular lobes about 6 mm (0.24 in) long and covered on the outside with woolly and star-shaped hairs. The petals are oblong to elliptical, 7–8 mm (0.28–0.31 in) long with star-shaped hairs on the outside and the stamens are two to three times as long as the petals. Flowering mainly occurs between October and February.[2][3][4]

Chorilaena quercifolia was first formally described in 1837 by Austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher. The description was published in his book, Enumeratio plantarum quas in Novae Hollandiae ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus Liber Baro de Hügel, based on plant material collected from King George Sound by Charles von Hügel.[5][6] The leaves are shaped like those of an oak (genus Quercus), hence the specific epithet quercifolia.[2]

Karri oak grows on rocky coasts and on hillsides within 60 km (37 mi) of the coast between Cape Naturaliste and Bald Island in Western Australia.[3][4]

This species is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.[4]