Petrophile trifurcata

Petrophile trifurcata is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to south-western Western Australia. It is a shrub with three-lobed, needle-shaped, sharply-pointed leaves, and spherical heads of hairy, yellow flowers.

Petrophile trifurcata
A=flowering branchlet; B=style; C=fruiting branchlet; D,E=upper and lower surfaces of nut

Priority Two — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Petrophile
Species:
P. trifurcata
Binomial name
Petrophile trifurcata
Foreman[1]

Description

Petrophile trifurcata is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 35–65 cm (14–26 in) and has hairy young branchlets that become glabrous as they age. The leaves are 10–16 mm (0.39–0.63 in) long and needle-shaped, mostly with three sharply-pointed lobes up to 6 mm (0.24 in) long. The flowers are arranged at the ends of branchlets in sessile, spherical heads 8–10 mm (0.31–0.39 in) in diameter, with egg-shaped involucral bracts at the base. The flowers are about 10 mm (0.39 in) long, yellow and hairy. Flowering has been observed in September and the fruit is a nut, fused with others in a spherical head about 12 mm (0.47 in) in diameter.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy

Petrophile trifurcata was first formally described in 1995 by Donald Bruce Foreman in Flora of Australia from material collected near Wongan Hills in 1983.[5] The specific epithet (trifurcata) means "three-forked", referring to the three-pronged leaves.[6]

Distribution and habitat

This petrophile is only known from a few locations near Wongan Hills and between Watheroo amd Coorow in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains biogeographic regions, growing in sandy soil with Actinostrobus arenarius.[2][3][4]

Conservation status

This petrophile is classified as "Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife[3] meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.[7]

References
  1. "Petrophile trifurcata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  2. Foreman, David B. "Petrophile trifurcata". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  3. "Petrophile trifurcata". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  4. Rye, Barbara L.; Hislop, Michael C.; Shepherd, Kelly A.; Hollister, Chris (2011). "New south-western Australian members of the genus Petrophile (Proteaceae: Petrophileae), including a hybrid" (PDF). Nuytsia. 21 (2): 56–57. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  5. "Petrophile trifurcata". APNI. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  6. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 327. ISBN 9780958034180.
  7. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
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