Linnaea 26: 355 (1854) APNI
Taxonomic status:Accepted
Occurrence status:Endemic
Establishment means:Native
Threat status:Victoria: rare (r)
Prostrate trailing or mat-forming shrub to c. 3 m across. Branchlet indumentum sparse sericeous. Leaves oblong to ovate or elliptic, 1.5–11.5 cm long, 1–4 cm wide, coarsely spinose-dentate with 7–19(–25) spinose teeth or short triangular lobes, sometimes with sparing secondary toothing; lower surface with an open-appressed indumentum of wavy hairs, or almost glabrous; margin shortly recurved. Conflorescences terminal (often on short axillary branchlets), erect to decurved, simple, secund, 3.5–8 cm long, rachis indumentum open-appressed; perianth light green or grey with reddish striations, subsericeous outside, glabrous inside; pistil 16–19 mm long, ovary stipitate, subsericeous to subvillous, style deep red, rarely dull orange to yellow, glabrous, pollen presenter oblique. Fruits with an open-appressed indumentum, dorsally red-striped. Flowers Oct.–Feb.
CVU, Gold, GGr, HNF, HSF, VVP. Endemic in Victoria. Rather rare, with disjunct occurrences in mountains north-east and north-west of Melbourne: i.e. between Mt Disappointment and Healesville (Mt Slide form), and near Daylesford. Grows in moist to well-drained situations in shallow clayey soils in dry sclerophyll forest.
The Mt Slide form has a tendency to have leaves with truncate bases, floral bracts less than 1 mm wide and more persistent, a mixture of glandular and non-glandular hairs on pedicels and perianth, and styles consistently red; it prefers drier sites. The Daylesford form tends to have cuneate leaf-bases, bracts often up to 2 mm wide and deciduous in bud stage, flowers lacking glandular hairs, and styles ranging from red to orange or pink; it tolerates moister sites.
| Bioregion | Occurrence status | Establishment means | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victorian Volcanic Plain | present | native | |
| Goldfields | present | native | |
| Central Victorian Uplands | present | native | |
| Greater Grampians | present | native | |
| Highlands-Southern Fall | present | native | |
| Highlands-Northern Fall | present | native |
| State |
|---|
| Victoria |
| Tasmania |