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Darwinia (plant)
Encyclopedia
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s in the family Myrtaceae
Myrtaceae
The Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus belong here. All species are woody, with essential oils, and flower parts in multiples of four or five...
, endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
to southeastern and southwestern Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The majority are native to southern 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...
, but a few species occur in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and Victoria. The genus was named in honour of Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist,inventor and poet...
, grandfather of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
. They are commonly known as Mountain Bells or simply Bells.
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are opposite in decussate pairs (alternate in some species), simple, small, needle-like to oval, 4–20 mm long and 2–10 mm broad, mostly hard with a leathery texture. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are grouped singly or several together, perfect, 2–30 mm long, with five red, white or greenish petals and ten stamens.
They are difficult to propagate
Plant propagation
Plant propagation is the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources: seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plant parts. Plant propagation can also refer to the artificial or natural dispersal of plants.-Sexual propagation :...
from seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
but can be cultivated from cutting
Cutting
Cutting is the separation of a physical object, or a portion of a physical object, into two portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. An implement commonly used for cutting is the knife or in medical cases the scalpel...
s.
Many species in the genus Darwinia are threatened with extinction
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
, being listed as Endangered
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
or Vulnerable on the Australian National List of Threatened Flora. Land clearing and grazing practices have reduced the areas where Darwinia species grow naturally. Recovery is hindered by drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
, changed fire regimes and susceptibility to infection by the oomycete Phytophthora cinnamomi
Phytophthora
Phytophthora is a genus of plant-damaging Oomycetes , whose member species are capable of causing enormous economic losses on crops worldwide, as well as environmental damage in natural ecosystems. The genus was first described by Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1875...
which kills the plants.
Natural hybrids are known among darwinias, for example between D. fascicularis and D. glaucophylla where these species occur together.
The speciesVerticordia verticordina
Verticordia verticordina
Verticordia verticordina is a species of flowering plant in the Myrtaceae family. It is a low growing shrub, with greenish-white flowers, that occurs near the southern coast of Western Australia....
was placed in this genus by George Bentham
George Bentham
George Bentham CMG FRS was an English botanist, characterized by Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century".- Formative years :...
, but transferred to the current arrangement in 1991.
List of species
- Darwinia acerosa – Fine-leaved Darwinia (endangered)
- Darwinia apiculata – Scarp Darwinia (endangered)
- Darwinia biflora (vulnerable)
- Darwinia briggsiae
- Darwinia camptostylis
- Darwinia carnea – Mogumber Bell (endangered)
- Darwinia chapmaniana Keighery (syn.Darwinia sp. Coorow) – Chapman's Bell or Eganu Bell (endangered)
- Darwinia citriodoraDarwinia citriodoraDarwinia citriodora, commonly known as Lemon-scented Darwinia, is a shrub which has both erect and prostrate, forms and is endemic to Southwest Australia. It usually grows to between 0.2 and 1.5 metres in height, occasionally reaching 3 metres, and produces red, yellow, and green flowers between...
– Lemon-scented Darwinia - Darwinia collina – Yellow Mountain Bell (endangered)
- Darwinia diosmoides
- Darwinia diminuta
- Darwinia fascicularisDarwinia fascicularisDarwinia fascicularis is shrub in the myrtle family which is endemic to areas near Sydney. The habitat is poor sandy soils, in dry eucalyptus forest or heathlands in high rainfall areas. It grows from as far north as Gosford in the Central Coast to Bulli near Wollongong. The sub species oligantha...
- Darwinia ferricola Keighery (syn. Darwinia sp. Scott River) – Scott River Darwinia (endangered)
- Darwinia foetida Keighery (syn.Darwinia sp. Muchea) – Muchea Bell
- Darwinia glaucophyllaDarwinia glaucophyllaDarwinia glaucophylla is a plant species that is endemic to the Gosford area in the Australian state of New South Wales. The species is listed as "threatened" under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995....
(vulnerable) - Darwinia grandiflora
- Darwinia homoranthoides
- Darwinia hypericifoliaDarwinia hypericifoliaDarwinia hypericifolia is a shrub which is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.It has an erect and straggly habit, growing to between 0.4 and 1 metre high. Red flowers are primarily produced between October and November....
- Darwinia leiostylaDarwinia leiostylaDarwinia leiostyla is a shrub which is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.It has an erect habit, growing to between 0.3 and 1.5 metres high..The pendent, bell shaped flowers are produced between May and January. These may be pink, red or white...
- Darwinia leptantha
- Darwinia macrostegiaDarwinia macrostegiaDarwinia macrostegia, commonly known as Mondurup Bell, is a shrub which is endemic to a localised area near Albany in Western Australia. It usually grows to between 0.3 and 0.9 metres in height and produces red and white flowers between late autumn and late spring...
(vulnerable) – Mondurup Bell - Darwinia masonii – Mason's Darwinia (vulnerable)
- Darwinia meeboldiiDarwinia meeboldiiDarwinia meeboldii is a shrub which is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has an erect and straggly habit, growing to between 0.5 and 3 metres high. The bracts around the flowers form a pendent "bell" which is usually white with red tips. A group of 8 small flowers are concealed...
– Cranbrook Bell (vulnerable) - Darwinia micropetalaDarwinia micropetalaDarwinia micropetala, commonly known as Small Darwinia, is a small shrub that is native to south-eastern Australia. It grows to 0.5 metres high and has small leaves and clusters of small white and pink flowers that appear between June and December in the species native range.The species was first...
– Small Darwinia - Darwinia neildianaDarwinia neildianaDarwinia neildiana, commonly known as Fringed Bell, is a shrub which is endemic to Western Australia. It grows to between 0.2 and 1 metre in height and produces red flowers between August and December in the species native range. The species was first formally described by Victorian Government...
– Fringed Bell - Darwinia nubigena Keighery (syn.Darwinia sp. Stirling Range, Darwinia sp. Mt Success) – Success Bell (vulnerable)
- Darwinia oxylepis – Gillam's Bell (endangered)
- Darwinia peduncularis (vulnerable)
- Darwinia polychroma Keighery (syn.Darwinia sp. Carnamah) – Harlequin Bell (endangered)
- Darwinia procera
- Darwinia purpurea – Rose Darwinia
- Darwinia squarrosaDarwinia squarrosaDarwinia squarrosa is a shrub which is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has an erect and straggly habit, growing to between 0.2 and 1 metre high...
– Pink Mountain Bell (vulnerable) - Darwinia taxifoliaDarwinia taxifoliaDarwinia taxifolia is a shrub which is endemic to New South Wales in Australia.It has an erect or decumbent habit, growing up to 1 metre high....
- Darwinia thymoides
- Darwinia vestita – Pom-pom Darwinia
- Darwinia virescens – Murchison Darwinia
- Darwinia whicherensis Keighery (syn. Darwinia sp. Williamson) – Abba Bell (endangered)
- Darwinia wittweror (endangered)