''Seringia hermanniifolia'', commonly known as crinkle-leaved firebush, is a species of flowering plant in the mallow
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
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 south-west of Western Australia. It is a low-growing or prostrate, suckering shrub with hairy new growth, hairy, wavy, oblong to egg-shaped leaves and mauve to bluish flowers arranged in groups of 3 to 8.
Description
''Seringia hermanniifolia'' is a low-growing or prostrate, suckering shrub that typically grows to a height of and wide, and has densely hairy new growth. The leaves are oblong to egg-shaped with wavy edges, long and wide on a
petiole
Petiole may refer to:
*Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem
*Petiole (insect anatomy)
In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...
long with narrow
stipule
In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...
s long at the base. The flowers are arranged in a cyme up to long with 3 to 8 flowers on a peduncle long, each flower on a
pedicel
Pedicle or pedicel may refer to:
Human anatomy
*Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures
...
long. The flowers are mauve to bluish with petal-like
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
Etymology
The term ''sepalum'' ...
s and joined at the base to form a tube with lobes less than half the length of the tube. There are no petals, the
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 tiny or absent, and the filaments are bright yellow. Flowering occurs in most months and the fruit is spherical and in diameter.
Taxonomy
This species was first described in 1821 by
Jaques Étienne Gay
Jaques Étienne Gay (1786 in Switzerland – 1864) was a Swiss-French botanist, civil servant, collector and taxonomist. His name is associated with plants in standardised botanical nomenclature, e.g. '' Crocus sieberi'' J.Gay. He was the most fa ...
who gave it the name ''Keraudrenia hermanniifolia'' in ''Memoires du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle'' from specimens collected near
Shark Bay
Shark Bay () is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The area is located approximately north of Perth, on the westernmost point of the Australian continent.
UNESCO's listing of Shark Bay as a World Heritage S ...
. In 1860,
Ferdinand von Mueller
Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria, Australia ...
transferred the species to ''
Seringia
''Seringia '' is a genus of about 18 species of plants in the family Malvaceae. Species of ''Seringia'' are native to Australia, New Guinea, and Madagascar.Fragmenta phytographie Australiae''. 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 ...
(''hermanniifolia'') means "'' Hermannia''-leaved".
Distribution and habitat
Crinkle-leaved fire bush grows in sandy or gravelly soils in heath and is found from
Dirk Hartog Island
Dirk Hartog Island is an island off the Gascoyne (Western Australia), Gascoyne coast of Western Australia, within the Shark Bay, Western Australia, Shark Bay World Heritage Area. It is about long and between wide and is Western Australia's ...
and
Peron Peninsula
Peron Peninsula () is a long narrow peninsula located in the Shark Bay World Heritage site in Western Australia, at about . It is some long, running north-northwesterly, located east of Henri Freycinet Harbour and west of Havre Hamelin and ...
Avon Wheatbelt
The Avon Wheatbelt is a bioregion in Western Australia. It has an area of . It is considered part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion.
Geography
The Avon Wheatbelt bioregion is mostly a gently undulating landscape with low rel ...
Geraldton Sandplains
Geraldton Sandplains is an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion of Western Australia. It has an area of . The Geraldton Sandplains is part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion, as asses ...
,
Jarrah Forest
Jarrah Forest, also known as the Southwest Australia woodlands, is an interim Australian bioregion and ecoregion located in the south west of Western Australia.
Swan Coastal Plain
The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...
bioregion
A bioregion is a geographical area, on land or at sea, defined not by administrative boundaries, but by distinct characteristics such as plant and animal species, ecological systems, soils and landforms, Human settlement, human settlements, and ...
s of south-western Western Australia.
Conservation status
''Seringia hermanniifolia'' 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 ...