Darwinia macrostegia

Darwinia macrostegia, commonly known as Mondurup bell,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a straggly shrub with elliptic leaves and clusters of pendent flowers surrounded by red and white bracts.

Mondurup bell
Darwinia macrostegia
in Wilson Botanic Park

Priority Four — Rare Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Darwinia
Species:
D. macrostegia
Binomial name
Darwinia macrostegia
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms[1]
  • Genetyllis macrostegia Turcz.
  • Genetyllis tulipifera (Lindl.) Planch.
  • Genetyllis tulipifera (Lindl.) Hook. isonym
  • Hedaroma tulipiferum Lindl.

Description

Darwinia macrostegia is a straggly shrub that typically grows to a height of 30–90 cm (12–35 in). It has scattered elliptic leaves with a pointed tip and the edges turned down, 1.3–1.8 mm (0.051–0.071 in) long. The flowers are arranged in bell-shaped clusters surrounded by red and white bracts nearly 3.8 mm (0.15 in) long. Flowering mainly occurs from August to November.[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first formally described in 1849 by Nikolai Turczaninow who gave it the name Genetyllis macrostegia and published the description in Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou.[4][5] In 1865, George Bentham changed the name to Darwinia macrostegia in The Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany.[6] The specific epithet (macrostegia) means "large roof" or "tent", referring to the floral bracts.[7]

A 1951 newspaper article about "Mondurup", a "long mountain that dominates the western end of the range", described this plant as "The Climber's Badge".[8]

Distribution and habitat

Mondurup bell occurs in and near the Stirling Range National Park in five separate populations, and grows in stony soils on rocky hillsides and in gullies in the Esperance Plains and Jarrah Forest bioregions of south-western Western Australia.[9]

Conservation status

Darwinia macrostegia is listed as "Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions,[2] meaning that it is rare or near threatened.[10]

References
  1. "Darwinia macrostegia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  2. "Darwinia macrostegia". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. Bentham, George (1867). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 3. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  4. "Genetyllis macrostegia". APNI. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  5. Turczaninow, Nikolai (1849). "Decas sexta generum plantarum hucusque non descriptorum adjectis descriptionibus specierum nonnullarum". Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou. 22 (3): 10. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  6. "Darwinia macrostegia". APNI. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  7. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 246. ISBN 9780958034180.
  8. Erikson, Rita (17 November 1951). "Springtime in the Stirlings". The West Australian. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  9. "Darwinia macrostegia (Mondurup Bell) Listing Advice" (PDF). Advice to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (the Committee) on Amendments to the list of Threatened Species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  10. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
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