Conospermum undulatum explained

Conospermum undulatum, commonly known as wavy-leaved smokebush,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic a small area east of Perth in the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, compact shrub with wavy lance-shaped leaves, the narrower end towards the base, or spoon-shaped leaves, spike-like panicles of woolly, white, tube-shaped flowers and hairy nuts.

Description

Conospermum undulatum is an erect, compact shrub that typically grows to a height of . Its leaves are lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, to spoon-shaped, long, wide and grabrous, with wavy edges. The flowers are borne in spike-like panicles on a peduncle long with egg-shaped, densely hairy bracteoles long and wide. The flowers are white and woolly, forming a tube long, the upper lip long and wide, the lower lip with narrowly oblong lobes long and wide. Flowering occurs from June to October, and the fruit is a nut about long and wide with dark tan, velvety hairs.[2]

Taxonomy

Conospermum undulaum was first formally described in 1839 by John Lindley in his A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony.[3] [4] The specific epithet (undulatum) means 'wavy' referring to the leaves.[5]

Distribution and habitat

Wavy-leaved smokebush grows on sand and sandy clay on flat or sloping sites between the Swan and Canning Rivers on the Darling Scarp to the east of Perth, mostly in jarrah or marri woodland, in the Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

Conospermum undulatum is listed as vulnerable under the EPBC Act, and as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.[6]

External links

Conospermum undulatum occurrence data from the Australasian Virtual Herbarium

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Conospermum undulatum — Wavy-leaved Smokebush . Australian Government, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water . 14 November 2024.
  2. Web site: Bennett . Eleanor M. . Conospermum undulatum . Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. . 14 November 2024.
  3. Web site: Conospermum undulatum . Australian Plant Name Index . 14 November 2024.
  4. Book: Lindley, J.. A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony. 1839. xxxi.
  5. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 331 . 3rd.
  6. Web site: Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna. Government of Western Australia Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. 14 November 2024.