| Christine's grevillea | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Proteales |
| Family: | Proteaceae |
| Genus: | Grevillea |
| Species: | G. christineae |
| Binomial name | |
| Grevillea christineae | |
Grevillea christineae, commonly known asChristine's grevillea,[3] is a species of flowering plant in the familyProteaceae and isendemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, rounded shrub with wiry branches, linear to narrowly elliptic leaves, and white flowers.
Grevillea christineae is an erect, rounded shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.5–1 m (1 ft 8 in – 3 ft 3 in) and has wiry, zig-zagging branchlets. Its leaves are linear to narrowly elliptic, 20–60 mm (0.79–2.36 in) long and 1–6.5 mm (0.039–0.256 in) wide, with the edges rolled under and both surfaces more or lessglabrous. The flowers are arranged in groups of eight to twelve in leaf axils or on the ends of branchlets and are white, sometimes turning pink or red as they age, thepistil 7.0–8.5 mm (0.28–0.33 in) long. Flowering occurs in August and September and the fruit is a narrowly ovalfollicle 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) long.[3][4][5]
Grevillea christineae was first formally described in 1986 byDonald McGillivray in his bookNew Names in Grevillea (Proteaceae) from specimens collected in 1979 nearGoomalling byAlex George.[6] Thespecific epithet (christineae) honours Christine Cornish, who assisted McGillivray.[7]
Grevillea christineae grows in woodland and shrubland in scattered populations betweenWatheroo and Goomalling in theAvon Wheatbelt,Geraldton Sandplains andJarrah Forest biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.[3][4][5]
This species is listed "endangered" under the Australian GovernmentEnvironment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999,Vulnerable on theIUCN Red List and as "Threatened" by the Western Australian GovernmentDepartment of Parks and Wildlife, meaning that it is in danger of extinction.[8] The main threats to the species are damage or clearing during road maintenance work, inappropriate fire regimes and rubbish dumping. Other threats to this species include vegetation clearing, competition from invasive weeds and changed hydrology, including salinity. It may also be susceptible to dieback disease from the plant pathogenPhytophthora cinnamomi.[1][3][5]
