Verticordia harveyi

Verticordia harveyi
Conservation status
Priority Four — Rare Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Myrtaceae
Genus:	Verticordia
Subgenus:	Verticordia
Section:	Verticordia
Species:	V. harveyi
Binomial name
Verticordia harveyi Benth.

Verticordia harveyi , commonly known as autumn featherflower, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a slender, spindly shrub with relatively long leaves and small white, pink or magenta-coloured flowers in late summer and autumn.

Verticordia harveyi is a spindly, openly-branched shrub which grows to 0.2–1.5 m (0.7–5 ft) high and 20–40 cm (8–20 in) wide. The leaves are 8–12 mm (0.3–0.5 in) long, linear in shape, nearly circular in cross-section and terminate in a long point.

The flowers are arranged in corymb-like groups, each flower on an erect stalk, 3–6 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long. The floral cup is top-shaped, 1.5 mm (0.06 in) long, smooth and covered with short, soft hairs. The sepals are white or pink to magenta-coloured, 3.5–4 mm (0.14–0.16 in) long, with 6 to 8 hairy lobes. The petals are the same colour as the sepals, about 2.5 mm (0.1 in), egg-shaped and erect with pointed teeth around their edges and hairs on the outside surface. The staminodes are longer than the stamens, curve inwards and are hairy. The style is 5 mm (0.2 in) long, curved with many short hairs near its tip. Flowering time is from January to April.

Verticordia harveyi was first formally described by George Bentham in 1867 and the description was published in Flora Australiensis. The type collection was made by William Henry Harvey near Cape Riche. A similar specimen preserved by George Maxwell in 1860 has been identified as this species, (a syntype) and was probably collected at the same location. The specific epithet (harveyi) honours the Irish botanist who made the type collection.