Hibbertia hypericoides - Flickr - Kevin Thiele

''Hibbertia hypericoides'', commonly known as yellow buttercups, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Dilleniaceae Dilleniaceae is a family of flowering plants with 11 genera and about 430 known species. Such a family has been universally recognized by taxonomists. It is known to gardeners for the genus '' Hibbertia'', which contains many commercially valuab ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

to the south-west of Western Australia. It is usually a spreading shrub with linear to elliptic or egg-shaped leaves, and yellow flowers, usually with ten to fifteen

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

s arranged in a cluster on one side of the two densely hairy

carpels Gynoecium (; ) 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 of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

Description

''Hibbertia hypericoides'' is a spreading shrub, rarely an erect shrub, that typically grows to a height of up to with densely hairy branchlets. The leaves are linear to elliptic or egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide. The upper surface is mostly g;abrous, the edges of the leaves are turned down or rolled under and the lower surface in densely covered with white hairs. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils or on the ends of the branchlets on a

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

long, with a bract long at the base. The five

sepal 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 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s are hairy, long and the five petals are yellow and egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long with a notch on the end. There are usually ten to fifteen stamens arranged in a single cluster on one side of the two carpels as well as seven to twenty

staminode In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen, which means that it does not produce pollen.Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; ''A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent''; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. ...

s in bundles. The carpels are densely hairy and each has two

ovule In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the '' integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the f ...

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1817 by

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candolle ...

who gave it the name ''Pleurandra hypericoides'' in his book ''Regni Vegetabilis Systema Naturale''. In 1863,

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...

changed the name to ''Hibbertia hypericoides'' in ''

Flora Australiensis ''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume flora of Australia published b ...

''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''hypericoides'') means "''

Hypericum ''Hypericum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae (formerly considered a subfamily of Clusiaceae). The genus has a nearly worldwide distribution, missing only from tropical lowlands, deserts and polar regions. Man ...

''-like". In 1995,

Kevin Thiele Kevin R. Thiele is currently an adjunct associate professor at the University of Western Australia and the director of Taxonomy Australia. He was the curator of the Western Australian Herbarium from 2006 to 2015. His research interests include ...

and

Geoff Cockerton Geoffrey, Geoffroy, Geoff, etc., may refer to: People * Geoffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * Geoffroy (surname), including a list of people with the name * Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095–c. 1155), clergyman and one of the ...

described two subspecies in the journal ''

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

'' and the names are accepted 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 Syst ...

: * ''Hibbertia hypericoides'' (DC.) Benth. subsp. ''hypericoides'' has glossy, dark green leaves with the edges rolled under; * ''Hibbertia hypericoides'' subsp. ''septentrionalis'' K.R.Thiele & Cockerton has dull, greyish-green leaves with more or less flat edges.

Distribution and habitat

Subspecies ''hypericoides'' grows in a wide variety of habitats including woodland and shrubland and is widely distributed from Dongara to Augusta and inland as far as

Wongan Hills Wongan Hills is a range of low flat-topped hills in the Avon Wheatbelt bioregion of Western Australia. It is located at , in the Shire of Wongan–Ballidu. History The range was first recorded in 1836 by Surveyor General of Western Australia Joh ...

. Subspecies ''septentrionalis'' typically grows in

kwongan Kwongan is plant community found in south-western Western Australia. The name is a Bibbelmun (Noongar) Aboriginal term of wide geographical use defined by Beard (1976) as Kwongan has replaced other terms applied by European botanists such as ...

and ''

Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. ''Banksias'' rang ...

'' woodland and is found in two disjunct populations - one between Kalbarri and Dongara and the other inland from the

Arrowsmith River The Arrowsmith River lies within the Mid West region of Western Australia. The explorer George Grey found the river on 11 April 1839, on his second expedition along the west coast. He named it after the distinguished English cartographer Jo ...

Ecology

Some pollination surveys place beetles (from the

Scarabaeidae The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several sub ...

Chrysomelidae The insects of the beetle family Chrysomelidae are commonly known as leaf beetles, and include over 37,000 (and probably at least 50,000) species in more than 2,500 genera, making up one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle ...

and Curculionidae) as the main pollinators of ''Hibbertia hypericoides'', as well as ''

Hibbertia scandens ''Hibbertia scandens'', sometimes known by the common names snake vine, climbing guinea flower and golden guinea vine, is a species of flowering plant in the family Dilleniaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is climber or scrambler wit ...

'' , and other species from the Dilleniaceae family, they also place bees and flies as secondary importance (such as Keighery 1975).

Conservation status

Both subspecies of ''H. hypericoides'' are listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and en ...

References