Verticordia verticillata
| tropical featherflower | |
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| Verticordia verticillata in the Keep River National Park | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Verticordia |
| Subgenus: | Eperephes |
| Section: | Tropica |
| Species: | V. verticillata |
| Binomial name | |
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Verticordia verticillata Byrnes |
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Verticordia verticillata, commonly known as tropical featherflower or whorled-leaved featherflower is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to an area in the north of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. It is a woody shrub or small tree with relatively long, linear leaves arranged in whorls, and with irregular groups of creamy-white flowers in spring.
Verticordia verticillata is an openly-branched shrub or small tree possessing a lignotuber and which grows to a height of up to 6 m (20 ft) and a width of 2 m (7 ft). The leaves are arranged in whorls of three or four and are linear in shape, semi-circular to triangular in cross-section, 6–30 mm (0.2–1 in) long, 0.5 mm (0.02 in) wide with a pointed end.
The flowers are faintly scented and arranged in irregular groups in leaf axils on stalks 8–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in) long. The floral cup is shaped like a , 1.5–2 mm (0.06–0.08 in) long, and more or less smooth. The sepals are spreading and creamy-white, 5–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long, with about 6 hairy lobes. The petals are a similar colour to the sepals, egg-shaped, 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long, joined for about 1 mm (0.04 in) of that length and have irregular teeth around their edge. The style is 9–13 mm (0.4–0.5 in) long, straight with hairs just below its tip. Flowering time is mainly from August to October, sometimes in other months following rainfall.
This species can be distinguished from Verticordia cunninghamii and Verticordia decussata, which sometimes occur in the same area, by its whorled leaves and much longer style.
Verticordia verticillata was first formally described in 1977 by Norman Byrnes from a specimen collected on Eva Valley Station in the Northern Territory. The description was published in the journal Austrobaileya. The specific epithet (verticillata) is derived from the Latin word verticillus meaning "a whorl" referring to the leaf arrangement of this species.
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Wikipedia