Persoonia manotricha facts for kids

Persoonia manotricha is a special kind of flowering plant. It belongs to the Proteaceae family, which includes many unique plants. This plant is only found in Western Australia. It is a tall bush with young branches that have tiny hairs. Its leaves are mostly round like a pencil. The flowers are greenish-yellow and grow in small groups on a short stalk.

This plant is similar to two other plants, P. bowgada and P. hexagona. However, Persoonia manotricha has longer flower stalks than P. bowgada. Its leaves also have different grooves compared to P. hexagona.

What Does Persoonia manotricha Look Like?

Persoonia manotricha is a bush that stands upright. It usually grows to be about 1 to 4 meters (3 to 13 feet) tall. The bark on its trunk is smooth and has a mix of grey colors. Near the bottom, the bark often has small cracks. When the branches are young, they are covered in fine hairs.

Leaves and Their Shape

The leaves of this plant grow in an alternating pattern along the stem. They are mostly round, like a cylinder. Each leaf has six narrow grooves running along its length. The tip of each leaf is sharply pointed. The leaves are typically 34 to 94 millimeters (1.3 to 3.7 inches) long. They are also quite thin, about 0.7 to 1.3 millimeters (0.03 to 0.05 inches) wide. These leaf grooves are similar to those of P. bowgada. However, they are narrower than the grooves found on the leaves of P. hexagona.

Flowers and Fruit

The flowers of Persoonia manotricha grow in small groups. Each group has about two to eight flowers. These groups are found on a short stalk, which is usually 2 to 15 millimeters (0.08 to 0.6 inches) long. Each individual flower sits on its own stalk, called a pedicel. These pedicels are quite hairy and measure 4.2 to 17.4 millimeters (0.17 to 0.69 inches) long. They are generally longer than the pedicels of P. bowgada.

The flower parts, called tepals, are greenish-yellow. They are about 12.5 to 19.5 millimeters (0.49 to 0.77 inches) long. The outside of the tepals has a moderate amount of hair. Inside the flower, the anthers (parts that hold pollen) are yellow. This plant has been seen flowering in November. After flowering, it produces a fruit called a drupe. This fruit is about 17 millimeters (0.67 inches) long and 6.6 millimeters (0.26 inches) wide.

How Persoonia manotricha Got Its Name

The scientific name Persoonia manotricha was officially given to this plant in 2007. It was described by two scientists, Adrienne Markey and Ryonen Butcher. They published their findings in a science journal called Nuytsia. The plant was first collected by Lyndley Craven near a place called Pindar in 1981.

The second part of its scientific name, manotricha, comes from ancient Greek words. "Mano" means "scanty" or "thin," and "tricha" means "hair." This name refers to the very few hairs found on the plant's ovary, which is the part of the flower that develops into the fruit.

Where Persoonia manotricha Lives

This type of geebung (a common name for Persoonia plants) mainly grows on rocky hills. You can find it in Western Australia, in the area between Pindar and near Payne's Find. It grows in several different natural areas, including the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Murchison, and Yalgoo biogeographic regions.