Grevillea floripendula, also known as Ben Major Grevillea, is a prostrate or spreading 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...

 which is endemic to a small area in central western Victoria in 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...

. It grows up to 1 metre in height and 3 metres in width. The inflorescence is suspended on a long, thing peduncle

Peduncle (botany)

In botany, a peduncle is a stem supporting an inflorescence, or after fecundation, an infructescence.The peduncle is a stem, usually green and without leaves, though sometimes colored or supporting small leaves...

. The individual flowers are green-grey to purplish-brown and appear between October and December (mid spring to early summer) in the species native range.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by botanist Raymond Smith in Muelleria

Muelleria

Muelleria is a peer-reviewed scientific journal on botany published by the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. It focuses on topics relating to plants, algae, and fungi in the southern hemisphere and Australia in particular. The journal was named in honour of Victorian Government botanist Ferdinand...

in 1981.
Two forms of this species have been identified:

• Ben Major form
• Musical Gully form

Distribution

Grevillea floripendula occurs in dry sclerophyll

Sclerophyll

Sclerophyll is the term for a type of vegetation that has hard leaves and short internodes . The word comes from the Greek sclero and phyllon ....

 forest within a localised area to the north
of Beaufort

Beaufort, Victoria

Beaufort is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is located on the Western Highway midway between Ararat and Ballarat, in the Pyrenees Shire local government area. It is 387 metres above sea level. At the 2001 census, Beaufort had a population of 987...

 between Waterloo

Waterloo, Victoria

Waterloo is a locality consisting of a collection of farms and houses approximately north of the town of Beaufort, Victoria and west north west of the state capital of Melbourne....

 and Ben Major Forest .

Conservation status

In 1997 about 4000 plants remained in its native range, in 21 separate populations. The species is listed as "Vulnerable" under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, "threatened" in Victoria under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and "Vulnerable" on the Department of Sustainability and Environment's Advisory List of Rare Or Threatened Plants In Victoria.