''Conospermum mitchellii'', commonly known as Victorian smokebush, is a species of flowering plant of the family

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family (biology), family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genus, genera with about 1,660 known species. Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentr ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the western half of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. It is an erect shrub with crowded, linear leaves,

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

s of white, blue or lilac flowers and orange or reddish brown

nuts Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed * Nut (food), a dry and edible fruit or seed, including but not limited to true nuts * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut, NUT or Nuts may also refer to: A ...

Description

''Conospermum mitchellii'' is a multistemmed shrub that typically grows to a height of up to and has its branches covered with silky hairs. The leaves are crowded, linear, long, wide and erect. The flowers are arranged in panicles that are longer than the leaves, on a peduncle long with egg-shaped to lance-shaped

bracteole In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

s long and wide. The

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower. It is a structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepal ...

is white, blue or lilac, forming a tube long. The upper lip is egg-shaped, long and wide, the lower lip joined for with narrowly oblong to oblong lobes long and wide. Flowering occurs from July to December, and the fruit is a hairy nut about long, wide, with a reddish brown base.

Taxonomy

''Conospermum mitchellii'' was first formally described in 1856 by

Carl Meissner Carl Daniel Friedrich Meissner (1 November 1800 – 2 May 1874) was a Swiss botanist. Biography Born in Bern, Switzerland on 1 November 1800, he was christened Meisner but later changed the spelling of his name to Meissner. For most of his 40 ...

in de Candolle's, '' Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis'', from a specimen collected during Thomas Mitchell's 1836 expedition.

Distribution and habitat

Victorian smokebush grows in heath and heathy woodland on sandy soils in the

Grampians National Park The Grampians National Park, commonly known as the Grampians, is a national park located in the Grampians region of Victoria, Australia. The Jardwadjali name for the mountain range itself is Gariwerd. The national park is situated between ...

, Lower Glenelg National Park and near Anglesea, mostly in western Victoria.

References

External links

*
Herbarium specimen at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5162329 mitchellii Flora of Victoria (state) Taxa named by Carl Meissner Plants described in 1856