Verticordia plumosa

Location & distribution maps

Plant  information

Common name:         Plumed Featherflower

Conservation status: Some varieties are threatened

• The varieties ananeotes and vassensis are classified as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife

Etymology:   

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• The specific epithet (plumosa) is derived from the Latin word pluma meaning "feather", referring to the feathery sepals

Flowers

• The flowers are scented and arranged in rounded or corymb-like groups on stalks 1.5–11 mm long 

• The floral cup is hemispherical in shape, 1.5–2 mm long, smooth but hairy

• The sepals are pink, mauve or white, 1.5–5 mm (0.06–0.2 in) long and spread widely with 3 to 7 feathery lobes

• The petals are a similar colour to the sepals, elliptic to egg-shaped, 2–4.5 mm long and are initially spreading but later turn upwards

• The style is 4.5–8 mm long, curved and hairy near the tip

• Flowering time differs, depending on the variety

Fruit:                            

Leaves:         

• Its leaves are linear in shape, semi-circular in cross-section and 1.5–14 mm long

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• Usually an openly branched shrub which grows to a height of 1.4 m 

Habitat:   

Distribution:                  

• Plumed featherflower mainly occurs in near-coastal areas from the Arrowsmith River to areas east of Esperance but the variety intercrassa is found well inland to areas near Newdegate and Hyden

Additional notes:     

• Verticordia plumosa, commonly known as plumed featherflower, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It was the first species in the genus to be described, although initially given the name Chamelaucium plumosum. It is a shrub with linear leaves and rounded groups of scented pink, mauve or white flowers. Two varieties of this species have been declared as being "threatened".

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• Description

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• Taxonomy 

  • This species was first formally described by René Louiche Desfontaines in 1839 and given the name Chamelaucium plumosum

  • The description was published in Mémoires du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle

  • In 1917, George Druce changed the name to Verticordia plumosa and the change was published in a supplement of The Botanical Exchange Club and Society of the British Isles Report

  • Details of the specimens used in the first description of the species are uncertain

  • The plant was probably first collected by Archibald Menzies, October 1791 and the type collection may have been made in 1803 by Jean Leschenault

  • Both collections were probably made at the King George Sound, Western Australia. William Baxter collected another early specimen in 1829

  • The plant was also given the name Verticordia fontanesii by Augustin de Candolle in 1828 but that nomination is no longer accepted

  • In a revision of the genus Verticordia in 1991, Alex George placed this species in subgenus Verticordia, section Verticordia, along with:

    •  V. crebra

    • V. harveyi

    • V. helichrysantha

    • V. stenopetala

    • V. sieberi

    • V. pityrhops

    • V. fimbrilepis

• He also recognised the following varieties:

  • Verticordia plumosa (Desf.) Druce var. plumosa

  • Verticordia plumosa var. ananeotes A.S. George (1991)

  • Verticordia plumosa var. brachyphylla (Diels) A.S.George

  • Verticordia plumosa var. grandiflora (Bentham) A.S.George

  • Verticordia plumosa var. incrassata A.S.George

  • Verticordia plumosa var. pleiobotrya A.S.George

  • Verticordia plumosa var. vassensis A.S.George

  • A variant, known as 'Eric John', appears to be an intergeneric cross between V. plumosa and Chamelaucium floriferum

Sources of information:

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