Grevillea batrachioides

Grevillea batrachioides, commonly known as Mount Lesueuer grevillea,[1] is a shrub which is endemic to a small area along the west coast in the Mid West region of Western Australia.[2] It is a threatened species with excessively low numbers in the wild,[3] and is nationally listed as critically endangered.[1]

Mt Lesueur grevillea
Grevillea batrachioides in Kings Park

Declared rare (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Grevillea
Species:
G. batrachioides
Binomial name
Grevillea batrachioides

Description

Grevillea batrachioides is a shrub which typically grows to a height of 0.5 to 2 metres (2 to 7 ft) and has glaucous branchlets. It has pinnate leaves that are 10 to 40 millimetres (0.39 to 1.57 in) long, 1 to 1.2 mm (0.039 to 0.047 in) wide with their edges rolled under. Irregularly shaped pink inflorescence located on a raceme at the end of the branchlets from October to December. A simple brown hairy ellipsoidal, ribbed fruit follows.[2]

Taxonomy and naming

Mount Lesueuer grevillea was first formally described in 1986 by D.J. Mc Gillivray from an unpublished description by Ferdinand von Mueller.[4] The specific epithet (batrachioides) is derived from the Ancient Greek word batrachos meaning "frog"[5]:355 with the ending oides meaning "likeness"[5]:45 referring to a similarity of this plant to those in the subgenus Batrachium of Ranunculus known as "water buttercup".[6]

Conservation

Declared as a rare flora in 1992, G. batrachioides was later nationally ranked as Critically Endangered when assessed in 2000. Although it has not yet been assessed by the IUCN, it meets Red List Category ‘CR’ under criterion D. Only one population exists numbering 45 adult plants and 13 juveniles in 2002. The main threats are fire, disease and recreational activities.[1]

See also

References
  1. Gillian Stack and Val English (January 2002). "Mt Lesueur Grevillea (Grevillea batrachioides) Interim Recovery Plan 2002-2004" (PDF). Department of Conservation and Land Management. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  2. "Grevillea batrachioides". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  3. "Threats to Australian Plants". Australian Native Plants Society (Australia). Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  4. "Grevillea batrachioides". APNI. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  5. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  6. Gledhill, David (2008). The names of plants (4th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0521685535.
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