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''Adenanthos cacomorphus'' is a small
shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
in the family
Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Pro ...
. It is found in southwest Western Australia.


Description

''Adenanthos cacomorphus'' grows as a small
lignotuberous shrub A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response t ...
up to one metre (3 ft) high. The soft and hairy leaves are more or less triangular in shape with 3 to 5 (occasionally up to 7) apical lobes. The single pink flowers consist of a bright pink perianth about 2.5 cm (1 in) long, and a style up to 3.5 cm (1.6 in) long. They are seen over the warmer months from November to March. It resembles its close relative '' A. cuneatus'', but has more deeply lobed leaves and a different flower colour.


Taxonomy

Botanical specimens of this species had been collected as far back as 1969, but the species was not published until 1978, when Irish botanist Ernest Charles Nelson issued a thorough revision of ''Adenanthos''. He published this species based on a type specimen collected by
Kenneth Newbey Kenneth Raymond Newbey (11 June 1936 – 24 July 1988) was a plant ecologist, botanical collector and horticulturist. Born in Katanning, Western Australia, he collected over 12000 specimens from the Albany- Esperance, Wheatbelt, goldfields and Pi ...
in Fitzgerald River National Park in 1974. Studies of the species' pollen prior to publication had shown that some pollen grains were "grossly misshapen", lacking their usual triangular shape, and having more than the usual three pores. He therefore chose the specific epithet ''cacomorpha'' from the Ancient Greek ''kakos'' ("ugly"), and ''morphe'' ("form"). Nelson followed George Bentham in dividing ''Adenanthos'' into two sections, placing ''A. cacomorphus'' into ''A.'' sect. ''Adenanthos'' because its perianth tube is straight and not swollen above the middle. He further divided the section into two subsections, with ''A. cacomorpha'' placed into ''A.'' subsect. ''Adenanthos'' for reasons including the length of its perianth. However Nelson discarded his own subsections in his 1995 treatment of ''Adenanthos'' for the '' Flora of Australia'' series of monographs. By this time, the ICBN had issued a ruling that all genera ending in ''-anthos'' must be treated as having masculine gender, so ''A. cacomorpha'' became ''A. cacomorphus''. The placement of ''A. cacomorphus'' in Nelson's arrangement of ''Adenanthos'' may be summarised as follows: :'' Adenanthos'' :: ''A.'' sect. ''Eurylaema'' (4 species) :: ''A.'' sect. ''Adenanthos'' :::'' A. drummondii'' :::'' A. dobagii'' :::'' A. apiculatus'' :::'' A. linearis'' :::'' A. pungens'' (2 subspecies) :::'' A. gracilipes'' :::'' A. venosus'' :::'' A. dobsonii'' :::'' A. glabrescens'' (2 subspecies) :::'' A. ellipticus'' :::'' A. cuneatus'' :::'' A. stictus'' :::'' A. ileticos'' :::'' A. forrestii'' :::'' A. eyrei'' :::''A. cacomorphus'' :::'' A. flavidiflorus'' :::'' A. argyreus'' :::'' A. macropodianus'' :::'' A. terminalis'' :::'' A. sericeus'' (2 subspecies) :::'' A. × cunninghamii'' :::'' A. oreophilus'' :::'' A. cygnorum'' (2 subspecies) :::'' A. meisneri'' :::'' A. velutinus'' :::'' A. filifolius'' :::'' A. labillardierei'' :::'' A. acanthophyllus'' ''A. cacomorphus'' has many characteristics shared with or intermediate between two species with which is co-occurs, '' A. cuneatus'' and '' A. flavidiflorus''. There are considered its closest relatives, and it is possible that ''A. cacomorphus'' originated as a hybrid between them.


Distribution and habitat

It is endemic to southern Western Australia, restricted to the Fitzgerald River National Park and surrounds. ''Adenanthos cacomorphus'' is found in kwongan growing on sand or sandy gravel.


Conservation

It is classified as ''Priority Two - Poorly Known'' on the Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation's Declared Rare and Priority Flora List. That is, it is a taxon which is known from few populations, at least some of which are not believed to be under immediate threat.


Cultivation

It is not known in cultivation, as it is fairly rare, and offers no advantages over the similar and more common ''A. cuneata''.


References


External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q4682192 cacomorphus Eudicots of Western Australia