Hibbertia empetrifolia

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Eudicots > Rosids > Dilleniales > Dilleniaceae >  Hibbertia   empetrifolia 

Other links:    

Plant  information

Common name:         Trailing Guinea-flower

Conservation status: . . .

Etymology:   

• The name Hibbertia honours George Hibbert, a patron of botany and slave trader

• The specific epithet (empetrifolia) refers to a similarity of the leaves to those in the genus Empetrum

Flowers

• Pale to bright yellow flowers 

• They are arranged singly on the ends of branchlets on a peduncle 2–10 mm long

• The sepals are 3–5 mm long and the petals yellow and 3–6 mm long

• There are between five and nine stamens arranged on one side of the two carpels

• Flowering occurs in most months

Fruit:                            

Leaves:         

• The leaves are oblong to lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 5–7 mm long and 1–3 mm wide 

• The edges turned down or rolled under

• Both surfaces of the leaves have simple, hooked or star-shaped hairs

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A low-lying to spreading shrub with trailing to wiry stems and that typically grows to a height of 60 cm

Habitat:   

• Woodland and forest, scrambling over other vegetation

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to south-eastern Australia

• From south-east Queensland, through NSW and Victoria to Kangaroo Island in South Australia and in Tasmania

  • Subspecies empetrifolia is found on the coast and tablelands of NSW, coastal areas of Victoria east of Port Phillip Bay, the east coast of Tasmania

  • Subspecies radians only occurs in south-eastern South Australia

Additional notes:     

• Hibbertia empetrifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Dilleniaceae 

• Taxonomy

  • This species was first formally described in 1817 by Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in his book, Regni Vegetabilis Systema Naturale 

  • It was given the name Pleurandra empetrifolia

  • In 1974, Ruurd Dirk Hoogland changed the name to Hibbertia empetrifolia in the Kew Bulletin

  • In 1998, Hellmut R. Toelken described three subspecies in the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, and the names of two are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

    • Hibbertia empetrifolia subsp. empetrifolia

    • Hibbertia empetrifolia subsp. radians that differs from the autonym in having star-shaped hairs with fewer branches

• Use in horticulture

  • It is regarded as one of the best suited species of Hibbertia for cultivation in gardens

  • Preferring a well-drained situation with some shade

  • It is frost resistant and withstands some dryness, but performs best with adequate moisture

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibbertia_empetrifolia (2023)