''Darwinia fascicularis'' is shrub in the myrtle family 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 areas near

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. A small shrub with aromatic foliage and white flowers, turning red as they mature. Nectar feeding birds are attracted to its flowers as a food source.

Description

''Darwinia fascicularis'' is a pleasantly scented small plant up to tall. The light green needle-like leaves are small, smooth, almost cylindrical and long. The leaves are crowded, arranged opposite or whorled on spreading branches. The flowers are white on a peduncle long. The flowers resemble a pin-cushion appearing in clusters of 4-20 flowers at the end of branches turning red as they age. The prominent

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

s are straight or curved, long and either white or red. The

bracts 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 loo ...

are leaf-like or triangular, dry, translucent and about long. The smaller bracts may be oblong or triangular shaped, long and falling off early. The tubular flowers are long and in diameter with rounded ribbing. The

sepals A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

are usually toothed and triangular and about half the length of the petals. Flowering occurs from June to September.

Taxonomy and naming

''Darwinia fascicularis'' was first formally described by

Edward Rudge Edward Rudge (27 June 1763 – 3 September 1846) was an English botanist and antiquary. Life He was the son of Edward Rudge, a merchant and alderman of Salisbury, who possessed a large portion of the abbey estate at Evesham. He matriculated ...

in 1816 and published in ''Transactions of the Linnean Society of London''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''fascicularis'') means "resembling a small bundle". Two subspecies are recognised by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Sys ...

. *''Darwinia fascicularis'' subsp. ''oligantha'' was first formally described in 1962 by Barbara Briggs and published in ''Contributions from the New South Wales National Herbarium''. This species usually has only 4 flowers, rarely 2 or 6 and only appearing in pairs. A small shrub growing to about high with branches often growing horizontally along the ground and upturned at the tip. The branches will take root when in contact with the soil. Leaves are less crowded and a darker green. It grows at higher altitudes in the Blue Mountains to

Wentworth Falls Wentworth Falls (Postcodes in Australia, postcode: 2782) is a town in the Blue Mountains (New South Wales), Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, situated approximately west of the Sydney central business district, and about east of Katoo ...

in New South Wales in heath or on shallow sandstone soils. The epithet (''oligantha'') means "few-flowered", referring to the small number of flowers in each

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

. *''Darwinia fascicularis'' subsp. ''fascicularis'' (the

autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

) is an erect shrub to high and has flowers of 4-20 in a tight cluster. The branches do not take root when in contact with the soil. It grows from

Gosford Gosford is a waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic views on the shores of Brisbane Water. Gosford is ...

in the Central Coast to Bulli near

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

within of the coast. Grows in exposed situations on the edge of sandstone ridges, mostly in heathland or dry

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or ...

scrub below .

Distribution and habitat

''Darwinia fascicularis'' grows from as far north as

in the Central Coast to Bulli near

. The habitat is poor sandy soils, in dry

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

forest or heathlands in high rainfall areas.

Uses in horticulture

''Darwinia fascicularis'' is a hardy species, for an open sunny situation in well-drained soil. Several native birds are attracted to this species of ''Darwinia'' as a source of nectar they include the

New Holland honeyeater The New Holland honeyeater (''Phylidonyris novaehollandiae'') is a honeyeater species found throughout southern Australia. It was among the first birds to be scientifically described in Australia, and was initially named ''Certhia novaehollandi ...

(''Phylidonyris novaehollandiae''), tawny-crowned honeyeater (''Gliciphila melanops'') and

eastern spinebill The eastern spinebill (''Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris'') is a species of honeyeater found in Southeast Australia temperate forests, south-eastern Australia in forest and woodland areas, as well as gardens in urban areas of Canberra, Sydney, Melbo ...

(''Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris''). This genus believed to be predominantly pollinated by birds.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5226048 fascicularis Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1816 Taxa named by Edward Rudge