East Mount Barren featherflower facts for kids
Quick facts for kids East Mount Barren featherflower |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Verticordia
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| Species: |
pityrhops
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The East Mount Barren featherflower, also called the pine-like featherflower, is a beautiful plant. Its scientific name is Verticordia pityrhops. It belongs to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. This plant grows only in the south-west part of Western Australia. It is a small shrub with many branches and crowded, needle-like leaves. These leaves make it look a bit like a tiny pine tree. In autumn, the shrub gets covered in many small, sweet-smelling, pinkish-purple flowers.
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What Does It Look Like?
The East Mount Barren featherflower is a shrub that usually has one main stem. It has many branches and a few side branches. It typically grows about 20 to 60 centimeters (8 to 24 inches) tall. It can also spread about 15 to 30 centimeters (6 to 12 inches) wide. Some plants can even grow as tall as 1.5 meters (5 feet)!
Its leaves are dark green and grow very close together. They are narrow and look almost like needles. Each leaf is about 7 to 14 millimeters (0.3 to 0.6 inches) long and has a pointy tip.
The Flowers
The flowers of this plant have a nice scent. They grow in groups near the ends of the branches. Each flower sits on a small stalk about 2 to 4 millimeters (0.08 to 0.16 inches) long.
The part of the flower that holds the petals and sepals is called the floral cup. It is about 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) long and feels smooth but has tiny hairs. The sepals are like small leaves under the petals. They are about 2 millimeters long, pink, and spread out. They fade to white and have 3 to 5 hairy parts.
The petals are similar in color to the sepals and are also about 2 millimeters long. They stand upright and are egg-shaped. Their outer surface feels bumpy, and they have a hairy edge. The style, which is part of the flower's reproductive system, is about 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) long. It is curved and has hairs near its tip. This plant flowers from February to June.
Its Name and History
Alex George, a botanist, first officially described Verticordia pityrhops in 1991. This description was published in a scientific journal called Nuytsia.
The plant's scientific name, pityrhops, comes from ancient Greek words. Pitys means "pine," and rhops means "a shrub." This name refers to how the plant looks like a small pine tree. Besides East Mount Barren featherflower, it is also known as pine-like featherflower or little pine verticordia.
Alex George grouped this species with other similar plants. These include the Barrens featherflower, Coast featherflower, Plumed featherflower, and Autumn featherflower.
Where It Lives
This special plant, Verticordia pityrhops, grows only in the Fitzgerald River National Park. This park is located in the Esperance Plains area of Western Australia. It likes to grow in sandy soil, sometimes with gravel. You can often find it among quartzite rocks in areas with heath and shrubland plants.
Protecting This Plant
The East Mount Barren featherflower is a rare and important plant. The Western Australian Government's Department of Parks and Wildlife lists it as "Threatened." This means it might become extinct or needs special protection.
The Australian Government also lists it as "Endangered" (EN) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. It is part of a special plan to help it recover.
Wildfires can kill the East Mount Barren featherflower. However, new plants can grow from seeds after a fire. There were fires in its area in 1989 and 2006. In 2008, experts estimated there were more than 420 adult plants left.
The biggest dangers to this plant are fires that happen too often or at the wrong time. Another threat is a plant disease called dieback. This disease is caused by a tiny fungus called Phytophthora cinnamomi.
Growing It in Gardens
It can be tricky to grow the East Mount Barren featherflower in gardens. Taking cuttings from the plant to grow new ones is difficult. Also, the plant does not produce many seeds.
The few plants that have been successfully grown in gardens took a long time to flower, sometimes up to five years. But once they did, they produced many sweet-smelling flowers on a bushy shrub.
