Conospermum nervosum facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Conospermum nervosum |
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| Scientific classification | |
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Conospermum
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| Species: |
nervosum
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The Conospermum nervosum is a special type of shrub found only in Western Australia. It belongs to a plant family called Proteaceae. This plant is endemic to Western Australia, which means it naturally grows there and nowhere else in the world.
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About the Purple-Pink Conebush
This unique shrub is known for its pretty purple, pink, and blue flowers. It's often called a "conebush" because of the shape of its flower clusters. It's an important part of the natural plant life in its home region.
What Does It Look Like?
The Conospermum nervosum is a shrub that stands upright and has many branches. It usually grows to be about 0.3 to 0.6 meters (1 to 2 feet) tall. This means it's not a very big plant, often reaching about the height of a small child.
Its beautiful flowers bloom for a long time, from May all the way through February. These flowers can be purple, pink, or blue, adding a splash of color to the landscape. The leaves of the plant can vary in shape and size, but they are typically about 1.5 to 3 centimeters long. The part of the flower called the perianth (which is like the petals and sepals) is usually blue, but sometimes it can be a pale pink. It might be smooth or have a few tiny hairs.
Where Does It Grow?
You can find the Conospermum nervosum growing on hill slopes and flat, sandy areas. It lives along the west coast of Western Australia, just north of the city of Perth. This area is part of a larger region known as the Wheatbelt.
This shrub prefers sandy soils. It is also part of special plant communities called kwongan. Kwongan is a type of shrubland found in Western Australia, known for its amazing variety of plants that are adapted to dry, sandy conditions.
How Was It Discovered?
The Conospermum nervosum was first officially described by a botanist named Carl Meissner. This happened in the year 1855. He included his description of the plant in a larger work about new plants from Australia. This work was published in a scientific journal called Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany.
Scientists sometimes find that a plant has been given different names over time. For Conospermum nervosum, there were once four other names that are now considered to be the same plant. These old names are Conospermum diffusum, Conospermum nervosum var. subspathulatum, Conospermum nervosum var. nervosum, and Conospermum nervosum var. ovalifolium.
