Adenanthos cuneatus
Encyclopedia
Adenanthos cuneatus is a shrub of the Proteaceae
family, native to the south coast
of Western Australia
. It was originally described by French naturalist Jacques Labillardière
in 1805. Within the genus Adenanthos
, it lies in the section
Adenanthos
and is most closely related to A. stictus
. A. cuneatus has hybridized with four other species of Adenanthos. Common names include Coastal Jugflower, Flame Bush, Bridle Bush and Sweat Bush. Growing to 2 m (7 ft) high and wide, it is erect to prostrate in habit
, with wedge-shaped lobed leaves covered in fine silvery hair. The single red flowers are insignificant, and appear all year, though especially in late spring. The reddish new growth occurs over the summer.
The shrub grows on sandy soils in heath
land. Pollinators include honeyeater
s, particularly the Western Spinebill
, Silvereye
, Honey Possum
and bees. It is sensitive to Phytophthora cinnamomi
dieback
, and hence requires a sandy soil and good drainage to grow in cultivation. A. cuneatus is grown in gardens in Australia and the western United States, and a dwarf and prostrate form are commercially available.
, from which it can resprout after bushfire. The wedge-shaped (cuneate) leaves are on short petioles
, and are 2 cm (0.8 in) long and 1–1.5 cm (0.4–0.6 in) wide, with 3 to 5 (and occasionally up to 7) rounded 'teeth' or lobes at the ends. New growth is red and slightly translucent
. It glows bright red against the light, especially when the sun is low in the sky. New growth is mainly seen in summer, and the leaves in general are covered with fine, silvery hair. Occurring throughout the year but more often from August to November, the insignificant single flowers are a dull red in colour and measure around 4 cm (1.6 in) long. The pollen is triangular in shape and measures 31–44 μm
in length, averaging around 34 μm.
The species is similar in many ways to its close relative A. stictus
. The most obvious difference is in habit
: the multi-stemmed, lignotuberous A. cuneatus rarely grows over 2 m (7 ft) in height, whereas A. stictus is a taller single-stemmed non-lignotuberous shrub that commonly reaches 5 m (16 ft) in height. Leaves are similar, but the lobes at the leaf apex are regular and crenate (rounded) in A. cuneatus, but irregular and dentate (toothed) in A. stictus. Also, new growth does not have a red flush in A. stictus, and juvenile leaves of A. stictus are usually much larger than adult leaves, a difference not seen in A. cuneatus. The flowers of the two species are very similar, differing only subtly in dimension, colour and indumentum
.
. Labillardière was botanist to an expedition under Bruni d'Entrecasteaux
, which anchored in Esperance Bay
on the south coast of Western Australia on 9 December. Though the precise time and location of the collection is unknown, it is likely that it was made on 16 December while searching the area between Observatory Point and Pink Lake
for the zoologist Claude Riche
, who had gone ashore two days earlier and failed to return. Following an unsuccessful search the following day, several senior members of the expedition were convinced that Riche must have perished of thirst or at the hands of the Australian Aborigines, and counselled d'Entrecasteaux to sail without him. However, Labillardière convinced d'Entrecasteaux to search for another day, and was rewarded not only with the recovery of Riche, but also with the collection of several highly significant botanical specimens, including the first specimens of Anigozanthos
(Kangaroo Paw) and Nuytsia floribunda (West Australian Christmas Tree). A. cuneatus was probably also collected at this time.
It was thirteen years before Labillardière would publish a formal description of A. cuneatus, and in the meantime there were several further collections: Scottish botanist Robert Brown
collected a specimen on 30 December 1801, during the visit of HMS Investigator to King George Sound
; and, fourteen months later, further King George Sound specimens were collected by Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour
, botanist to Nicolas Baudin
's voyage of exploration, and "gardener's boy" Antoine Guichenot
. In his notes on vegetation published in the official account of the expedition, Leschenault writes:
Labillardière eventually published the genus Adenanthos, along with A. cuneatus and two other species, in his 1805 Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen
. He chose the specific name cuneata in reference to the leaves of this species, which are cuneate (triangular). This name has feminine gender, consistent with the gender assigned by Labillardière to the genus. He did not designate which of the three published species was to serve as the type species
of Adenanthos, but Irish botanist E. Charles Nelson
has since chosen A. cuneatus as lectotype
for the genus, since the holotype
of A. cuneatus bears an annotation showing the derivation of the genus name, and because Labillardière's description of it is the most detailed of the three, and is referred to by the other descriptions.
's name in the controversial On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae
, published the name Adenanthes flabellifolia, listing A. cuneata as a synonym. As no type specimen was given, and no specimen annotated by Knight could be found, this was treated as a nomenclatural synonym of A. cuneata and was therefore rejected on the principle of priority.
Also synonymised with this species is Adenanthos crenata, published by Carl Ludwig Willdenow
's in Curt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel's 1825 16th edition of Systema Vegetabilium. Willdenow published both A. cuneata and A. crenata, giving them different descriptions but designating the same type specimen for both. Thus A. crenata was rejected under the principle of priority, and is now regarded as a nomenclatural synonym of A. cuneatus.
published the first infrageneric arrangement of Adenanthos in Volume 5 of his landmark Flora Australiensis
. He divided the genus into two sections, placing A. cuneata in A. sect. Stenolaema because its perianth tube is straight and not swollen above the middle. This arrangement still stands today, though A. sect. Stenolaema is now renamed to the autonym
A. sect. Adenanthos
.
A phenetic analysis of the genus undertaken by Nelson in 1975 yielded results in which A. cuneatus was grouped with A. stictus. This pairing was then neighbour to a larger group that included A. forrestii, A. eyrei
, A. cacomorphus
, A. ileticos
, and several hybrid and unusual forms of A. cuneatus. Bentham's sections were supported by Nelson's analysis, and so they were retained when Nelson published a taxonomic revision of the genus
in 1978. He further subdivided A. sect. Adenanthos into two subsections, with A. cuneata placed into A. subsect. Adenanthos for reasons including the length of its perianth, but Nelson discarded his own subsections in his 1995 treatment of Adenanthos, for the Flora of Australia
series of monographs. By this time, the ICBN had issued a ruling that all genera ending in -anthos must be treated as having masculine gender; thus the specific epithet became cuneatus.
The placement of A. cuneatus in Nelson's arrangement of Adenanthos
may be summarised as follows:
, refers to the fact that horses favour it as fodder
; and Sweat Bush, used around Hopetoun
, derived from the claim that horses break out in sweat
after consuming young growth. The common name of Flame Bush is derived from the brilliant red new growth, and it is also known as Coastal Jugflower. Nelson also records the use of the names Templetonia and Native Temp, but ridicules them as obvious errors.
and Israelite Bay, along the coast and up to 40 km (25 mi) inland. There are also isolated populations extending west to Walpole
, and in the Stirling Range
. East of Israelite Bay there are a few isolated populations which occur as far east as Twilight Cove.
This species is restricted to siliceous sandplain soils, and will not grow in calcareous
soils such as the limestone
plains of the Nullarbor, or even siliceous dunes with limestone at little depth. This explains the disjunctions east of Israelite Bay: the species occurs only in those few locations where the existence of cliff-top dune
s of deep siliceous sand provide suitable habitat. Provided the soil is siliceous and fairly dry, A. cuneatus tolerates a range of edaphic
conditions: it grows in both lateritic
sand and sands of marine
origin, and it tolerates pH
levels ranging from 3.8 to 6.6.
Consistent with these edaphic preferences, A. cuneatus is a frequent and characteristic member of the kwongan
heath
lands commonly found on the sandplains of Southwest Australia
. The climate in its range is mediterranean
, with annual rainfall from 275 mm to 1000 mm (10–40 in).
. A 1978 field study conducted around Albany
found the Honey Possum
(Tarsipes rostratus) occasionally visited Adenanthos cuneatus, while the Western Spinebill
much preferred the species to other flowers. A 1980 field study at Cheyne beach showed it to be pollinated by the New Holland Honeyeater
and White-cheeked Honeyeater
. A 1985–86 field study in the Fitzgerald River National Park
found it to be an occasional food source for the nectar-feeding honey possum. The Silvereye
(Zosterops lateralis) feeds on nectar from the flowers, and has also been observed taking dew-drops from leaves early in the morning.
Adenanthos cuneatus is known to be susceptible to Phytophthora cinnamomi
dieback
, but reports on the degree of susceptibility vary from low to high. A study of Banksia attenuata woodland 400 km (250 mi) southeast of Perth across 16 years, and following a wave of P. cinnamomi infestation, showed that A. cuneatus populations were not significantly reduced in diseased areas. Phosphite
(used to combat dieback) has some toxic effects in A. cuneatus, with some necrosis of leaf tips, but the uptake of the compound is relatively low compared with other shrubs. Specimens in coastal dune vegetation showed some sensitivity to the fungus Armillaria luteobubalina
, with between a quarter and a half of plants exposed succumbing to the pathogen.
The following cultivar
s exist:
Proteaceae
Proteaceae is a family of flowering plants distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises about 80 genera with about 1600 species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae they make up the order Proteales. Well known genera include Protea, Banksia, Embothrium, Grevillea,...
family, native to the south coast
South Coast Western Australia
South Coast Western Australia comprises the coastline in the state of Western Australia from Cape Leeuwin to Eucla. This is a distance of approximately 1,000 miles or 1,600 km, fronting the Great Australian Bight and the Southern Ocean.-Components:...
of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. It was originally described by French naturalist Jacques Labillardière
Jacques Labillardière
Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière was a French naturalist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the La Pérouse expedition...
in 1805. Within the genus Adenanthos
Adenanthos
Adenanthos is an genus of Australian native shrubs in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. Variable in habit and leaf shape, it is the only Proteaceae genus in which solitary flowers is the norm. It was discovered in 1791, and formally published by Jacques Labillardière in 1805. There are now 33...
, it lies in the section
Section (botany)
In botany, a section is a taxonomic rank below the genus, but above the species. The subgenus, if present, is higher than the section, and the rank of series, if present, is below the section. Sections are typically used to help organise very large genera, which may have hundreds of species...
Adenanthos
Adenanthos sect. Adenanthos
Adenanthos sect. Adenanthos is a taxonomic section of the flowering plant genus Adenanthos . It comprises 29 species. The centre of diversity is southwest Western Australia, with two species extending into South Australia and western Victoria.-Description:The section is characterised by flowers in...
and is most closely related to A. stictus
Adenanthos stictus
Adenanthos cuneatus is a shrub of the Proteaceae family, native to the south coast of Western Australia. It was described by Alex George in 1974....
. A. cuneatus has hybridized with four other species of Adenanthos. Common names include Coastal Jugflower, Flame Bush, Bridle Bush and Sweat Bush. Growing to 2 m (7 ft) high and wide, it is erect to prostrate in habit
Habit (biology)
Habit, when used in the context of biology, refers to the instinctive actions of animals and the natural tendencies of plants.In zoology, this term most often refers to specific behavioral characteristics, even when directly related to physiology...
, with wedge-shaped lobed leaves covered in fine silvery hair. The single red flowers are insignificant, and appear all year, though especially in late spring. The reddish new growth occurs over the summer.
The shrub grows on sandy soils in heath
Heath
-Habitats:* Heath or heathland, low-growing woody vegetation, mostly consisting of heathers and related species* Heaths in the British National Vegetation Classification system...
land. Pollinators include honeyeater
Honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea...
s, particularly the Western Spinebill
Western Spinebill
The Western Spinebill, Acanthorhynchus superciliosus, is a honeyeater found in the heath and woodland of south-western Western Australia. It ranges between long, and weighs around . It has a black head, gray back and wings, with a red band behind its neck and from its throat to its breast. There...
, Silvereye
Silvereye
The Silvereye or Wax-eye is a very small passerine bird native to Australia, New Zealand and the south-west Pacific islands of Lord Howe, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji...
, Honey Possum
Honey Possum
The honey possum or tait, its Native Australian name or noolbenger is a tiny Australian marsupial weighing just seven to eleven grams for the male, and eight to sixteen grams for the female—about half the weight of a mouse. Their physical size ranges from a body length of between 6.5 –...
and bees. It is sensitive to Phytophthora cinnamomi
Phytophthora cinnamomi
Phytophthora cinnamomi is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants called root rot or dieback. The plant pathogen is one of the world's most invasive species and is present in over 70 countries from around the world.- Life cycle and effects on plants :P...
dieback
Root rot
Root rot is a condition found in both indoor and outdoor plants, although more common in indoor plants with poor drainage. As the name states, the roots of the plant rot. Usually, this is a result of overwatering. In houseplants, it is a very common problem, and is slightly less common in outdoor...
, and hence requires a sandy soil and good drainage to grow in cultivation. A. cuneatus is grown in gardens in Australia and the western United States, and a dwarf and prostrate form are commercially available.
Description
Adenanthos cuneatus grows as an erect, spreading or prostrate shrub to 2 m (7 ft) high and wide. It has a woody base, known as a lignotuberLignotuber
A lignotuber is a starchy swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem by fire. The crown contains buds from which new stems may sprout, and a sufficient store of nutrients to support a period of growth in the absence of...
, from which it can resprout after bushfire. The wedge-shaped (cuneate) leaves are on short petioles
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
, and are 2 cm (0.8 in) long and 1–1.5 cm (0.4–0.6 in) wide, with 3 to 5 (and occasionally up to 7) rounded 'teeth' or lobes at the ends. New growth is red and slightly translucent
Transparency and translucency
In the field of optics, transparency is the physical property of allowing light to pass through a material; translucency only allows light to pass through diffusely. The opposite property is opacity...
. It glows bright red against the light, especially when the sun is low in the sky. New growth is mainly seen in summer, and the leaves in general are covered with fine, silvery hair. Occurring throughout the year but more often from August to November, the insignificant single flowers are a dull red in colour and measure around 4 cm (1.6 in) long. The pollen is triangular in shape and measures 31–44 μm
Micrometre
A micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm...
in length, averaging around 34 μm.
The species is similar in many ways to its close relative A. stictus
Adenanthos stictus
Adenanthos cuneatus is a shrub of the Proteaceae family, native to the south coast of Western Australia. It was described by Alex George in 1974....
. The most obvious difference is in habit
Habit (biology)
Habit, when used in the context of biology, refers to the instinctive actions of animals and the natural tendencies of plants.In zoology, this term most often refers to specific behavioral characteristics, even when directly related to physiology...
: the multi-stemmed, lignotuberous A. cuneatus rarely grows over 2 m (7 ft) in height, whereas A. stictus is a taller single-stemmed non-lignotuberous shrub that commonly reaches 5 m (16 ft) in height. Leaves are similar, but the lobes at the leaf apex are regular and crenate (rounded) in A. cuneatus, but irregular and dentate (toothed) in A. stictus. Also, new growth does not have a red flush in A. stictus, and juvenile leaves of A. stictus are usually much larger than adult leaves, a difference not seen in A. cuneatus. The flowers of the two species are very similar, differing only subtly in dimension, colour and indumentum
Indumentum
The indumentum is a covering of fine hairs or bristles on a plant or insect.In plants, the indumentum types are:*pubescent*hirsute*pilose*villous*tomentose*stellate*scabrous*scurfy...
.
Discovery and naming
The first known botanical specimen of Adenanthos cuneatus was collected in December 1792 by French botanist Jacques LabillardièreJacques Labillardière
Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière was a French naturalist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the La Pérouse expedition...
. Labillardière was botanist to an expedition under Bruni d'Entrecasteaux
Bruni d'Entrecasteaux
Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was a French navigator who explored the Australian coast in 1792 while seeking traces of the lost expedition of La Pérouse....
, which anchored in Esperance Bay
Esperance Bay
Esperance Bay is a bay on the south coast of Western Australia. Nominally located at , it is the site of the town of Esperance.The bay was discovered on 9 December 1792 by a French expedition under Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, which sailed in search of the lost expedition of Jean-François de Galaup,...
on the south coast of Western Australia on 9 December. Though the precise time and location of the collection is unknown, it is likely that it was made on 16 December while searching the area between Observatory Point and Pink Lake
Pink Lake (Western Australia)
Pink Lake is a salt lake in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. It lies about west of Esperance and is bounded to the East by the South Coast Highway.-Description:...
for the zoologist Claude Riche
Claude Riche
Claude-Antoine-Gaspard Riche was a naturalist on Bruni d'Entrecasteaux's 1791 expedition in search of the lost ships of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse.Cape Riche, on the south coast of Australia, is named in his honour.-Early Life:...
, who had gone ashore two days earlier and failed to return. Following an unsuccessful search the following day, several senior members of the expedition were convinced that Riche must have perished of thirst or at the hands of the Australian Aborigines, and counselled d'Entrecasteaux to sail without him. However, Labillardière convinced d'Entrecasteaux to search for another day, and was rewarded not only with the recovery of Riche, but also with the collection of several highly significant botanical specimens, including the first specimens of Anigozanthos
Anigozanthos
Anigozanthos is a small genus of Australian plants in the Bloodwort family Haemodoraceae. The 11 species and several subspecies are commonly known as kangaroo paw and catspaw depending on the shape of their flowers...
(Kangaroo Paw) and Nuytsia floribunda (West Australian Christmas Tree). A. cuneatus was probably also collected at this time.
It was thirteen years before Labillardière would publish a formal description of A. cuneatus, and in the meantime there were several further collections: Scottish botanist Robert Brown
Robert Brown (botanist)
Robert Brown was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope...
collected a specimen on 30 December 1801, during the visit of HMS Investigator to King George Sound
King George Sound
King George Sound is the name of a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Located at , it is the site of the city of Albany.The sound covers an area of and varies in depth from to ....
; and, fourteen months later, further King George Sound specimens were collected by Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour
Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour
Jean Baptiste Louis Claude Theodore Leschenault de la Tour was a French botanist and ornithologist.Leschenault de la Tour was chief botanist on Nicolas Baudin's expedition to Australia between 1800 and 1803...
, botanist to Nicolas Baudin
Nicolas Baudin
Nicolas-Thomas Baudin was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer.Baudin was born a commoner in Saint-Martin-de-Ré on the Île de Ré. At the age of fifteen he joined the merchant navy, and at twenty joined the French East India Company...
's voyage of exploration, and "gardener's boy" Antoine Guichenot
Antoine Guichenot
Antoine Guichenot or Guichenault was "gardener's boy" on the 1801—1803 French scientific voyage to Australia under Nicolas Baudin, and the 1817 voyage under Louis de Freycinet...
. In his notes on vegetation published in the official account of the expedition, Leschenault writes:
Labillardière eventually published the genus Adenanthos, along with A. cuneatus and two other species, in his 1805 Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen
Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen
Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen is a two volume work describing the flora of Australia. The author was the French botanist Jacques Labillardière, who visited the region in 1792 with the d'Entrecasteaux expedition...
. He chose the specific name cuneata in reference to the leaves of this species, which are cuneate (triangular). This name has feminine gender, consistent with the gender assigned by Labillardière to the genus. He did not designate which of the three published species was to serve as the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
of Adenanthos, but Irish botanist E. Charles Nelson
Ernest Charles Nelson
Ernest Charles Nelson is a botanist who specialises in the Proteaceae family, especially the Adenanthos genus; and the Ericaceae, especially Erica. He is the author of over 20 books and more than 150 research papers...
has since chosen A. cuneatus as lectotype
Lectotype
In botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature, a lectotype is a kind of name-bearing type. When a species was originally described on the basis of a name-bearing type consisting of multiple specimens, one of those may be designated as the lectotype...
for the genus, since the holotype
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
of A. cuneatus bears an annotation showing the derivation of the genus name, and because Labillardière's description of it is the most detailed of the three, and is referred to by the other descriptions.
Synonymy
In 1809, Richard Salisbury, writing under Joseph KnightJoseph Knight (horticulturist)
Joseph Knight , gardener to George Hibbert, was one of the first people in England to successfully propagate Proteaceae...
's name in the controversial On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae
On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae
On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae is an 1809 paper on the Proteaceae family of flowering plants. Although nominally written by Joseph Knight as a paper on cultivation techniques, all but 13 pages consists of an unattributed taxonomic revision now known to...
, published the name Adenanthes flabellifolia, listing A. cuneata as a synonym. As no type specimen was given, and no specimen annotated by Knight could be found, this was treated as a nomenclatural synonym of A. cuneata and was therefore rejected on the principle of priority.
Also synonymised with this species is Adenanthos crenata, published by Carl Ludwig Willdenow
Carl Ludwig Willdenow
Carl Ludwig Willdenow was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants...
's in Curt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel's 1825 16th edition of Systema Vegetabilium. Willdenow published both A. cuneata and A. crenata, giving them different descriptions but designating the same type specimen for both. Thus A. crenata was rejected under the principle of priority, and is now regarded as a nomenclatural synonym of A. cuneatus.
Infrageneric placement
In 1870, George BenthamGeorge Bentham
George Bentham CMG FRS was an English botanist, characterized by Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century".- Formative years :...
published the first infrageneric arrangement of Adenanthos in Volume 5 of his landmark Flora Australiensis
Flora Australiensis
Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory, more commonly referred to as Flora Australiensis, and also known by its standard abbreviation Fl. Austral., is a seven-volume flora of Australia published between 1863 and 1878 by George Bentham, with the assistance of...
. He divided the genus into two sections, placing A. cuneata in A. sect. Stenolaema because its perianth tube is straight and not swollen above the middle. This arrangement still stands today, though A. sect. Stenolaema is now renamed to the autonym
Autonym (botany)
In botanical nomenclature, autonyms are automatically created names, as regulated by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature . Autonyms are cited without an author. Relevant provisions are in articles 6.8, 22.1-3 and 26.1-3....
A. sect. Adenanthos
Adenanthos sect. Adenanthos
Adenanthos sect. Adenanthos is a taxonomic section of the flowering plant genus Adenanthos . It comprises 29 species. The centre of diversity is southwest Western Australia, with two species extending into South Australia and western Victoria.-Description:The section is characterised by flowers in...
.
A phenetic analysis of the genus undertaken by Nelson in 1975 yielded results in which A. cuneatus was grouped with A. stictus. This pairing was then neighbour to a larger group that included A. forrestii, A. eyrei
Adenanthos eyrei
Adenanthos eyrei is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. Restricted to a single cliff-top dune system on the remote south coast of Western Australia, it is listed as rare and endangered. It was discovered by E...
, A. cacomorphus
Adenanthos cacomorphus
Adenanthos cacomorphus is a small shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is found in southwestern Australia.-Description:Adenanthos cacomorphus grows as a small lignotuberous shrub up to one metre high. The soft and hairy leaves are more or less triangular in shape with 3 to 5 apical lobes...
, A. ileticos
Adenanthos ileticos
Adenanthos ileticos is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. It has roughly triangular, lobed leaves, and pale pink-red and cream, inconspicuous flowers. A rare species, it is known only from a single location in the south-west of Western Australia...
, and several hybrid and unusual forms of A. cuneatus. Bentham's sections were supported by Nelson's analysis, and so they were retained when Nelson published a taxonomic revision of the genus
Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos
Ernest Charles Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos was the first modern-day arrangement of that plant genus. First published in his 1978 Brunonia article "A taxonomic revision of the genus Adenanthos ", it superseded the arrangement of George Bentham, which had stood for over a hundred years...
in 1978. He further subdivided A. sect. Adenanthos into two subsections, with A. cuneata placed into A. subsect. Adenanthos for reasons including the length of its perianth, but Nelson discarded his own subsections in his 1995 treatment of Adenanthos, for the Flora of Australia
Flora of Australia (series)
The Flora of Australia is a 59 volume series describing the vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens present in Australia and its external territories...
series of monographs. By this time, the ICBN had issued a ruling that all genera ending in -anthos must be treated as having masculine gender; thus the specific epithet became cuneatus.
The placement of A. cuneatus in Nelson's arrangement of Adenanthos
Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos
Ernest Charles Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos was the first modern-day arrangement of that plant genus. First published in his 1978 Brunonia article "A taxonomic revision of the genus Adenanthos ", it superseded the arrangement of George Bentham, which had stood for over a hundred years...
may be summarised as follows:
- AdenanthosAdenanthosAdenanthos is an genus of Australian native shrubs in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. Variable in habit and leaf shape, it is the only Proteaceae genus in which solitary flowers is the norm. It was discovered in 1791, and formally published by Jacques Labillardière in 1805. There are now 33...
- A. sect. EurylaemaAdenanthos sect. EurylaemaAdenanthos sect. Eurylaema is a taxonomic section of the flowering plant genus Adenanthos . It comprises four species, all of which are endemic to southwest Western Australia.-Description:...
(4 species) - A. sect. AdenanthosAdenanthos sect. AdenanthosAdenanthos sect. Adenanthos is a taxonomic section of the flowering plant genus Adenanthos . It comprises 29 species. The centre of diversity is southwest Western Australia, with two species extending into South Australia and western Victoria.-Description:The section is characterised by flowers in...
- A. drummondiiAdenanthos drummondiiAdenanthos drummondii is a shrub of the Proteaceae family, native to the south coast of Western Australia. Within the genus Adenanthos, it lies in the section Adenanthos and is most closely related to A. stictus....
- A. dobagiiAdenanthos dobagiiAdenanthos dobagii, commonly known as Fitzgerald Woollybush, is a shrub in the family Proteaceae. It grows to a mere 50 cm high, with crowded small silvery leaves and insignificant pink or cream flowers...
- A. apiculatusAdenanthos apiculatusAdenanthos apiculatus is a shrub of the Proteaceae family, native to the south coast of Western Australia. Within the genus Adenanthos, it lies in the section Adenanthos and has had only 29 records of occurrence....
- A. linearisAdenanthos linearisAdenanthos linearis is a shrub of the Proteaceae family, native to the south coast of Western Australia. Within the genus Adenanthos, it lies in the section Adenanthos and has had only 14 occurrences; out of those 14, only 5 have had exact coordinates....
- A. pungensAdenanthos pungensAdenanthos pungens is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia....
(2 subspecies) - A. gracilipes
- A. venosus
- A. dobsonii
- A. glabrescensAdenanthos glabrescensAdenanthos glabrescens is a species of small shrub endemic to the Ravensthorpe area in southwest Western Australia. First published in 1978, there are two subspecies.-Description:...
(2 subspecies) - A. ellipticus
- A. cuneatus
- A. stictusAdenanthos stictusAdenanthos cuneatus is a shrub of the Proteaceae family, native to the south coast of Western Australia. It was described by Alex George in 1974....
- A. ileticosAdenanthos ileticosAdenanthos ileticos is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. It has roughly triangular, lobed leaves, and pale pink-red and cream, inconspicuous flowers. A rare species, it is known only from a single location in the south-west of Western Australia...
- A. forrestii
- A. eyreiAdenanthos eyreiAdenanthos eyrei is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. Restricted to a single cliff-top dune system on the remote south coast of Western Australia, it is listed as rare and endangered. It was discovered by E...
- A. cacomorphusAdenanthos cacomorphusAdenanthos cacomorphus is a small shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is found in southwestern Australia.-Description:Adenanthos cacomorphus grows as a small lignotuberous shrub up to one metre high. The soft and hairy leaves are more or less triangular in shape with 3 to 5 apical lobes...
- A. flavidiflorus
- A. argyreusAdenanthos argyreusAdenanthos argyreus is a species of erect shrub endemic to southwest Western Australia....
- A. macropodianusAdenanthos macropodianusAdenanthos macropodianus, commonly known as Gland Flower, or Kangaroo Island Gland Flower, is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Kangaroo Island in South Australia...
- A. terminalisAdenanthos terminalisAdenanthos terminalis, commonly known as Gland Flower, Yellow Gland Flower or Adenanthos, is a one metre tall shrub in the Proteaceae family...
- A. sericeusAdenanthos sericeusAdenanthos sericeus, commonly known as Woolly Bush, is a shrub native to the south coast of Western Australia. It has bright red but small and obscure flowers, and very soft, deeply divided, hairy leaves.-Description:...
(2 subspecies) - A. × cunninghamiiAdenanthos × cunninghamiiAdenanthos × cunninghamii, commonly known as Woollybush, Albany Woollybush or Prostrate Woollybush, is a hybrid shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.-Description:...
- A. oreophilusAdenanthos oreophilusAdenanthos oreophilus, commonly known as Woollybush, is a species of tall shrub endemic to southwest Western Australia. It is closely related to the better known A. sericeus , and was only classified as a species distinct from the latter in 1978 by Irish botanist E...
- A. cygnorumAdenanthos cygnorumAdenanthos cygnorum, commonly known as common woollybush or just woollybush, is a tall shrub in the Proteaceae family. It is endemic to Western Australia, commonly occurring in the south west of the State from north of Geraldton south to Kojonup...
(2 subspecies) - A. meisneriAdenanthos meisneriAdenanthos meisneri, commonly known as Prostrate Woollybush, is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia....
- A. velutinus
- A. filifoliusAdenanthos filifoliusAdenanthos filifolius is a species of erect shrub endemic to southwest Western Australia. It was first described by George Bentham in 1870....
- A. labillardiereiAdenanthos labillardiereiAdenanthos labillardierei is a species of erect shrub endemic to the slopes of the Barren Ranges in the Fitzgerald River National Park in southwest Western Australia.-Description:It grows as an erect shrub, usually less than m in height...
- A. acanthophyllus
- A. drummondii
- A. sect. Eurylaema
Hybrids
Adenanthos cuneatus apparently forms hybrids with other Adenanthos species quite readily, as four putative natural hybrids have been reported:- A. × cunninghamiiAdenanthos × cunninghamiiAdenanthos × cunninghamii, commonly known as Woollybush, Albany Woollybush or Prostrate Woollybush, is a hybrid shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.-Description:...
(Albany Woollybush), a hybrid between A. cuneatus and A. sericeusAdenanthos sericeusAdenanthos sericeus, commonly known as Woolly Bush, is a shrub native to the south coast of Western Australia. It has bright red but small and obscure flowers, and very soft, deeply divided, hairy leaves.-Description:...
, was first collected in 1827, and published as A. cunninghamii in 1845. Other than some dubious collections in the 1830s and 1840s, no further sightings are known to have been made until 1973, when Nelson rediscovered it. At the time it was regarded as a distinct species, but by 1995 it was thought to be a hybrid, and this was confirmed by genetic analysisGenetic analysisGenetic analysis can be used generally to describe methods both used in and resulting from the sciences of genetics and molecular biology, or to applications resulting from this research....
in 2002. In appearance it is very similar to A. sericeus, but its leaf segments are flat rather than cylindrical. - A single plant discovered by Nelson near Israelite Bay, where both putative parents are found, is regarded as a hybrid between A. cuneatus and A. dobsonii. Leaves are mostly triangular like those of A. cuneatus, but whereas A. cuneatus leaves are mostly five-lobed, the putative hybrid usually has three lobes, with the occasional leaf being entire like those of A. dobsonii (though A. cuneatis itself occasionally bears entire leaves). Leaves of the putative hybrid lack the thick indumentumIndumentumThe indumentum is a covering of fine hairs or bristles on a plant or insect.In plants, the indumentum types are:*pubescent*hirsute*pilose*villous*tomentose*stellate*scabrous*scurfy...
of A. cuneatus, being bright green with a sparse indumentum like that of A. dobsonii. Flower colour is like that of A. cuneatus but the style lacks an indumentum, like A. dobsonii. - Two plants found near Twilight Cove are regarded as hybrids between A. cuneatus and A. forrestii, the only two Adenanthos species to occur in the area. One was discovered by Nelson in 1972, the other by Alex GeorgeAlex GeorgeAlexander Segger George is a Western Australian botanist. He is the authority on the plant genera Banksia and Dryandra...
in 1974. They are about 5 km apart, and differ somewhat. The leaves are triangular and flat like those of A. cuneatus, but the leaves of mature shoots are very long and narrow, and the leaves of younger shoots are deeply lobed. - In his 1995 revision, Nelson refers to putative hybrids with A. dobsonii and A. apiculatusAdenanthos apiculatusAdenanthos apiculatus is a shrub of the Proteaceae family, native to the south coast of Western Australia. Within the genus Adenanthos, it lies in the section Adenanthos and has had only 29 records of occurrence....
, citing the 1978 paper in which he published putative hybrids with A. dobsonii and A. forrestii. It is unclear whether the reference to A. apiculatus is an error or a fourth putative hybrid.
Common names
Several common names have been recorded for this species, some of which are highly localised. Two names allude to its consumption by horses; Bridle Bush, a name used east of EsperanceEsperance, Western Australia
Esperance is a large town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, located on the Southern Ocean coastline approximately east-southeast of the state capital, Perth. The shire of Esperance is home to 9,536 people as of the 2006 census, its major industries are tourism, agriculture,...
, refers to the fact that horses favour it as fodder
Fodder
Fodder or animal feed is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. Most animal feed is from plants but some is of animal origin...
; and Sweat Bush, used around Hopetoun
Hopetoun, Western Australia
Hopetoun is a town on the south coast of Western Australia in the Shire of Ravensthorpe. Located on Mary Ann Haven, Hopetoun is some south-east from capital city Perth and west of Esperance.-History:...
, derived from the claim that horses break out in sweat
SWEAT
SWEAT is an OLN/TSN show hosted by Julie Zwillich that aired in 2003-2004.Each of the 13 half-hour episodes of SWEAT features a different outdoor sport: kayaking, mountain biking, ice hockey, beach volleyball, soccer, windsurfing, rowing, Ultimate, triathlon, wakeboarding, snowboarding, telemark...
after consuming young growth. The common name of Flame Bush is derived from the brilliant red new growth, and it is also known as Coastal Jugflower. Nelson also records the use of the names Templetonia and Native Temp, but ridicules them as obvious errors.
Distribution and habitat
The most widely distributed Adenanthos species of the south coast, A. cuneatus is common and locally abundant between King George SoundKing George Sound
King George Sound is the name of a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Located at , it is the site of the city of Albany.The sound covers an area of and varies in depth from to ....
and Israelite Bay, along the coast and up to 40 km (25 mi) inland. There are also isolated populations extending west to Walpole
Walpole, Western Australia
Walpole is a town in Western Australia, 432 km SSE of Perth and 66 km west of Denmark.Walpole lies very close to the northern point of the 100-hectare Walpole Inlet, from which it takes its name....
, and in the Stirling Range
Stirling Range
The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, 337 km south-east of Perth. It is located at approximately and is over 60 km wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranbrook...
. East of Israelite Bay there are a few isolated populations which occur as far east as Twilight Cove.
This species is restricted to siliceous sandplain soils, and will not grow in calcareous
Calcareous
Calcareous is an adjective meaning mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate, in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.-In zoology:...
soils such as the limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
plains of the Nullarbor, or even siliceous dunes with limestone at little depth. This explains the disjunctions east of Israelite Bay: the species occurs only in those few locations where the existence of cliff-top dune
Cliff-top dune
Cliff-top dunes, also known as perched dunes, are dunes that occur on the tops of cliffs. They are uncommon in most parts of the world, because they only develop under unusual geomorphological conditions...
s of deep siliceous sand provide suitable habitat. Provided the soil is siliceous and fairly dry, A. cuneatus tolerates a range of edaphic
Edaphic
Edaphic is a nature related to soil. Edaphic qualities may characterize the soil itself, including drainage, texture, or chemical properties such as pH. Edaphic may also characterize organisms, such as plant communities, where it specifies their relationships with soil...
conditions: it grows in both lateritic
Laterite
Laterites are soil types rich in iron and aluminium, formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are rusty-red because of iron oxides. They develop by intensive and long-lasting weathering of the underlying parent rock...
sand and sands of marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
origin, and it tolerates pH
PH
In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...
levels ranging from 3.8 to 6.6.
Consistent with these edaphic preferences, A. cuneatus is a frequent and characteristic member of the kwongan
Kwongan
Kwongan is a type of heathland found on the coastal plains of Western Australia. The name is derived from the language of the Noongar people. Kwongan comprises floristically-rich heath with dense thickets of sclerophyllous shrubs and isolated small trees...
heath
Heath
-Habitats:* Heath or heathland, low-growing woody vegetation, mostly consisting of heathers and related species* Heaths in the British National Vegetation Classification system...
lands commonly found on the sandplains of Southwest Australia
Southwest Australia
Southwest Australia is a biodiversity hotspot that includes the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregions of Western Australia. The region has a wet-winter, dry-summer Mediterranean climate, one of five such regions in the world...
. The climate in its range is mediterranean
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
, with annual rainfall from 275 mm to 1000 mm (10–40 in).
Ecology
Adenanthos cuneatus flowers are visited by colletid bees of the genus LeioproctusLeioproctus
Leioproctus is a genus in the plaster bee family Colletidae. Its members are primarily found in Australasia and temperate South America, and include the most common native bees in New Zealand...
. A 1978 field study conducted around Albany
Albany, Western Australia
Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....
found the Honey Possum
Honey Possum
The honey possum or tait, its Native Australian name or noolbenger is a tiny Australian marsupial weighing just seven to eleven grams for the male, and eight to sixteen grams for the female—about half the weight of a mouse. Their physical size ranges from a body length of between 6.5 –...
(Tarsipes rostratus) occasionally visited Adenanthos cuneatus, while the Western Spinebill
Western Spinebill
The Western Spinebill, Acanthorhynchus superciliosus, is a honeyeater found in the heath and woodland of south-western Western Australia. It ranges between long, and weighs around . It has a black head, gray back and wings, with a red band behind its neck and from its throat to its breast. There...
much preferred the species to other flowers. A 1980 field study at Cheyne beach showed it to be pollinated by the New Holland Honeyeater
New Holland Honeyeater
The New Holland Honeyeater 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 novaehollandiae...
and White-cheeked Honeyeater
White-cheeked Honeyeater
The White-cheeked Honeyeater inhabits the east coast and the south-west corner of Australia. It has a large white patch on its cheek, a brown eye, and a yellow panel on its wing.- Description :...
. A 1985–86 field study in the Fitzgerald River National Park
Fitzgerald River National Park
Fitzgerald River National Park is a national park in Western Australia , southeast of Perth, in the Shire of Ravensthorpe and the Shire of Jerramungup....
found it to be an occasional food source for the nectar-feeding honey possum. The Silvereye
Silvereye
The Silvereye or Wax-eye is a very small passerine bird native to Australia, New Zealand and the south-west Pacific islands of Lord Howe, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji...
(Zosterops lateralis) feeds on nectar from the flowers, and has also been observed taking dew-drops from leaves early in the morning.
Adenanthos cuneatus is known to be susceptible to Phytophthora cinnamomi
Phytophthora cinnamomi
Phytophthora cinnamomi is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants called root rot or dieback. The plant pathogen is one of the world's most invasive species and is present in over 70 countries from around the world.- Life cycle and effects on plants :P...
dieback
Root rot
Root rot is a condition found in both indoor and outdoor plants, although more common in indoor plants with poor drainage. As the name states, the roots of the plant rot. Usually, this is a result of overwatering. In houseplants, it is a very common problem, and is slightly less common in outdoor...
, but reports on the degree of susceptibility vary from low to high. A study of Banksia attenuata woodland 400 km (250 mi) southeast of Perth across 16 years, and following a wave of P. cinnamomi infestation, showed that A. cuneatus populations were not significantly reduced in diseased areas. Phosphite
Phosphite
A phosphite is a salt of phosphorous acid. The phosphite ion is a polyatomic ion with a phosphorus central atom where phosphorus has an oxidation state of +3...
(used to combat dieback) has some toxic effects in A. cuneatus, with some necrosis of leaf tips, but the uptake of the compound is relatively low compared with other shrubs. Specimens in coastal dune vegetation showed some sensitivity to the fungus Armillaria luteobubalina
Armillaria luteobubalina
Armillaria luteobubalina, commonly known as the Australian honey fungus, is a species of mushroom in the family Physalacriaceae. Widely distributed in southern Australia, the fungus is responsible for a disease known as Armillaria root rot, a primary cause of Eucalyptus tree death and forest dieback...
, with between a quarter and a half of plants exposed succumbing to the pathogen.
Cultivation
Adenanthos cuneatus was taken to Great Britain in 1824, and has been grown in cultivation in Australia and the western United States. Its attractive bronzed or reddish foliage is its main horticultural feature, along with its ability to attract birds to the garden. It requires a well-drained position to do well, but will grow in full sun or semi-shade, and tolerates both sand and gravelly soils. Western Australian nurseryman George Lullfitz recommends growing it as a rambling ground cover in front of other shrubs, or in a rockery.The following cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s exist:
- A. "Coral Drift" is a compact form in cultivation since at least the 1990s. It is 50–70 cm (20–28 in) tall and 1–1.5 m (3–5 ft) wide. The grey foliage has pinkish purple new growth.
- A. "Coral Carpet" is a prostrate form which peaks at around 20 cm (8 in) high and spreads to 1.5 m (5 ft) across. The new foliage is a pinkish purple. A chance seedling from 'Coral Drift', it was originally developed by George Lullfitz of Lullfitz Nursery in WannerooWanneroo, Western AustraliaThe City of Wanneroo is a Local Government Area with City status, located in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It is centred approximately north of Perth's central business district and forms part of the northern boundary of the Perth metropolitan area.The City's main commercial...
. It became available to the public in 2005, and has been registered successfully under Plant Breeders' Rights.