''Lambertia orbifolia'', commonly known as the roundleaf honeysuckle, is a shrub or small tree that 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

south-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It has more or less circular leaves and groups of between four and six orange-red flowers. Lambertia orbifolia fruit

Description

''Lambertia orbifolia'' is a shrub or small tree that grows to a height of up to but does not form a

lignotuber 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 respons ...

. It has erect, spreading branches covered with soft hairs. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, sometimes in

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). In nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagram ...

of three and are in diameter and

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

. The flowers are arranged in groups of between four and six, each flower long with overlapping

bract 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 lo ...

s at the base. The flowers are orange-red and tube-shaped with hairs on the inside. Flowering occurs throughout the year but peaks between November and May. The fruit is a woody capsule in diameter with a short beak.

Taxonomy

''Lambertia orbifolia'' was first formally described in 1964 by Western Australian State Botanist Charles Gardner from a specimen collected at the

Scott River The Scott River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 9, 2011 river in Siskiyou County, California, United States. It is a tributary of the Klamath River, one of the ...

by Alfred John Gray in January 1945. The description was published in the ''

Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia The Royal Society of Western Australia (RSWA) promotes science in Western Australia. The RSWA was founded in 1914, and also gained the "Royal" name in the same year. It publishes the ''Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia'', and has ...

''. 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 ...

(''orbifolia'') is from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

words ''orbis'' meaning ''anything circular'' and ''-folius'' meaning "-leaved". Three subspecies of ''L. orbifolia'' have been described 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 ...

'' in a 2023 genetic analysis of existing scattered populations, and the names are accepted by the

Western Australian Herbarium The Western Australian Herbarium is the state Herbarium, situated in Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It houses a collection of more than 845,000 dried specimens of plants, algae, bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts), lichens, fu ...

and

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

: * ''Lambertia orbifolia'' C.A.Gardner subsp. ''orbifolia'' has strongly recurved, densely hairy

s, the inner bracts long. * ''Lambertia orbifolia'' subsp. ''pecuniosa'' A.D.Webb, L.T.Monks &

Wege WEGE (104.9 FM) — branded 104.9 The Eagle — is a commercial classic rock radio station licensed to Lima, Ohio. Owned by Woof Boom Radio, the station serves Allen County and is the local affiliate for '' Nights with Alice Cooper'' ...

(commonly known as penny-leaved honeysuckle) has erect or recurved bracts that are densely hairy on both surfaces, the inner bracts long. * ''Lambertia orbifolia'' subsp. ''vespera'' A.D.Webb, L.T.Monks & Wege (commonly known as Scott River honeysuckle) usually has erect bracts, the inner bracts long.

Distribution and habitat

Roundleaf honeysuckle is known from two main areas, corresponding to the two proposed subspecies. Subspecies ''orbifolia'' occurs in the Narrikup area where it grows with

jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with rough, fibro ...

and marri in banksia woodland, and subspecies ''vespera'' grows in dense shrubland and heathland in the Scott River Plains.

Ecology

''Lambertia orbifolia'' is killed by fire and regenerates from seed shortly after the fire, but few germinate in the interfire period. The species is susceptible to ''

Phytophthora cinnamomi ''Phytophthora cinnamomi'', also known as cinnamon fungus, is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants variously called "dieback", "root rot", or (in certain '' Castanea'' species), "ink disease". O ...

'' infection. The main pollinator of the species is thought to be 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'').

Conservation

''Lambertia orbifolia'' is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Government of Western Australia, Western Australian government department responsible for managing lands and waters described in the ''Conservation and Land Management A ...

but is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...

''. The main threats to the species are infection by ''P. cinnamomi'', road and track maintenance and changes in hydrology. Both proposed subspecies of this plant are listed as " Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the

Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia) The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) was a department of the Government of Western Australia that was responsible for implementing the state's conservation and environment legislation and regulations. It was formed on 1 July 2006 ...

and "critically endangered" under the Western Australian Government '' Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016''. An Interim Recovery Plan has been prepared for subspecies ''orbifolia''. Subspecies ''orbifolia'' is at a high risk of extinction due to ''P. cinnamomi'' infection and from damage caused by road maintenance activities. A proposal to translocate the subspecies has been prepared.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6481341 orbifolia Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1964 Taxa named by Charles Gardner Endemic flora of Southwest Australia