''Grevillea lanigera'', commonly known as woolly grevillea, is a species of flowering plant in 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 south-eastern continental Australia. It is a spreading shrub with narrowly oblong to more or less linear leaves and clusters of pink to red, and cream-coloured flowers.

Description

''Grevillea lanigera'' is usually a spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of , sometimes a dense rounded shrub to high. Its leaves are narrowly oblong to more or less linear, long and wide, with the edges turned down or rolled under. The lower surface of the leaves is shaggy-hairy. The flowers are arranged in clusters of two to ten on a

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the ''rachi ...

long and are pale pink to red and cream-coloured. The

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 * '' ...

is shaggy- or woolly-hairy except near its tip, the

pistil Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl (botany), whorl of a flower; it consists ...

long and hairy inside. Flowering mainly occurs from July to December, but flowers are sometimes present in other months. The fruit is a shaggy-hairy, elliptic to oblong follicle long.

Taxonomy

''Grevillea lanigera'' was first formally described in 1830 by

Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...

in his '' Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae'' from specimens collected near the

Lachlan River The Lachlan River (Wiradjuri: ''Kalari'', ''Galiyarr'') is an intermittent river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, located in the Southern Tablelands, Central West, and Riverina regions of New Sou ...

by Allan Cunningham. 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 ...

(''lanigera'') means "wool-bearing".

Distribution and habitat

Woolly grevillea grows in moist, rocky places in scrub, woodland and forest, south from near

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

and east of the

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

in New South Wales, mainly on the coast and tablelands through the Australian Capital Territory to eastern Victoria. The species is variable in habit, features of the leaves and abundance of flowers, and forms hybrids with '' G. rosmarinifolia'', '' G. polybractea'' and '' G. floribunda''.

Use in horticulture

This grevillea is popular in cultivation and can be grown from seed or from cuttings. It is hardy in a range of climate and soil conditions. It is drought and frost hardy but prefers a sunny position in the garden.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2749543 lanigera Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of the Australian Capital Territory Proteales of Australia Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773) Plants described in 1830