Stirlingia simplex
Encyclopedia
Stirlingia simplex is a plant endemic to Western Australia
.
y perennial
, S. simplex can grow as a shrub
or as suckering herb
with short-lived stems arising from a perennial rootstock. Stems may be up to ten centimetres long, and the plant as a whole grows to a height of from ten to 60 centimetres, rarely to one metre. It has soft leaves that bifurcate repeatedly into lobes, with the final lobes measuring from two to twenty millimetres long. Flowers are cream or yellow, and occur in dense heads from ten to 15 millimetres in diameter, atop scape
s up to 60 centimetres tall.
in his 1839 A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony
, based on unspecified material. Lindley commented that it "resembles a Sanicula
".
Since that time, it has had a fairly straightforward taxonomic history. It has only two synonyms:
in the north, south to Waroona
and east to Hyden
. It grows in a variety of soils, amongst proteaceous
-myrtaceous
heath
and eucalypt woodland, and prefers seasonally wet areas.
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...
.
Description
A woodWood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
y perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
, S. simplex can grow as a 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...
or as suckering herb
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
with short-lived stems arising from a perennial rootstock. Stems may be up to ten centimetres long, and the plant as a whole grows to a height of from ten to 60 centimetres, rarely to one metre. It has soft leaves that bifurcate repeatedly into lobes, with the final lobes measuring from two to twenty millimetres long. Flowers are cream or yellow, and occur in dense heads from ten to 15 millimetres in diameter, atop scape
Scape (botany)
In botany, scapes are leafless flowering stems that rise from the ground. Scapes can have a single flower or many flowers, depending on the species....
s up to 60 centimetres tall.
Taxonomy
The species was first published by John LindleyJohn Lindley
John Lindley FRS was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist.-Early years:Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley was a nurseryman and pomologist and ran a commercial nursery garden...
in his 1839 A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony
A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony
A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony, also known by its standard botanical abbreviation Sketch Veg. Swan R., is an 1839 article by John Lindley on the flora of the Swan River Colony...
, based on unspecified material. Lindley commented that it "resembles a Sanicula
Sanicula
Sanicula is a genus of plants in family Apiaceae , the same family to which the carrot and parsnip belong. This genus has about 40 species worldwide, with 22 in North America. The common names usually include the label sanicle or black snakeroot.-List of species:*S. arctopoides, Footsteps of...
".
Since that time, it has had a fairly straightforward taxonomic history. It has only two synonyms:
- Carl MeissnerCarl MeissnerCarl Daniel Friedrich Meissner was a Swiss botanist.Born in Bern, Switzerland on 1 November 1800, he was christened Meisner but later changed the spelling of his name to Meissner. For most of his 40 year career he was Professor of Botany at University of Basel...
published S. capillifolia in 1855, but this was declared a taxonomic synonym of S. simplex by Alex GeorgeAlex GeorgeAlexander Segger George is a Western Australian botanist. He is the authority on the plant genera Banksia and Dryandra...
in 1995. - In 1884 Ferdinand von MuellerFerdinand von MuellerBaron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...
proposed to transfer StirlingiaStirlingiaStirlingia, commonly known as Blueboy, is a genus of 7 species in the family Proteaceae, all of which are endemic to Western Australia.-Description:...
to Simsia, the original, albeit illegal, name for the genus. His transfer was not accepted, and Simsia simplex is now a nomenclatural synonym of Stirlingia simplex.
Distribution and habitat
It occurs throughout much of the Southwest Botanic Province of Western Australia, from EneabbaEneabba, Western Australia
Eneabba is a town on the Brand Highway located 278 km north of Perth, Western Australia.The area is famous for its spectacular display of wildflowers in the spring. It is also home to the Iluka Resources mineral sands facility....
in the north, south to Waroona
Waroona, Western Australia
Waroona is a town located in the Peel region of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, between Pinjarra and Harvey. The town is the seat of the Shire of Waroona. At the 2006 census, Waroona had a population of 1,864.-History:...
and east to Hyden
Hyden, Western Australia
The town of Hyden is located 339 km east of Perth, Western Australia in the Shire of Kondinin. Hyden is home to Wave Rock and Mulka's Cave, both popular local tourist attractions....
. It grows in a variety of soils, amongst proteaceous
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,...
-myrtaceous
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...
heath
Heath (habitat)
A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
and eucalypt woodland, and prefers seasonally wet areas.