Biology:Grevillea miqueliana

Short description: Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to Victoria, Australia

Grevillea miqueliana
Subspecies cincta near Mount Selma
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Proteales
Family:	Proteaceae
Genus:	Grevillea
Species:	G. miqueliana
Binomial name
Grevillea miqueliana F.Muell.

Grevillea miqueliana is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to Victoria in Australia. It is an erect to spreading shrub with elliptic to egg-shaped leaves and clusters of red and orange or yellow flowers.

Description

Grevillea miqueliana is a spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of 1.5–2.5 m (4 ft 11 in–8 ft 2 in) and shaggy- to woolly-hairy branchlets. The leaves are elliptic to egg-shaped, sometimes with the narrower end towards the base, 9–85 mm (0.35–3.35 in) long and 15–30 mm (0.59–1.18 in) wide with the edges turned down or rolled under. The lower surface is covered with velvety to shaggy hairs. The flowers are usually arranged on the ends of branches or in leaf axils in oval to cylindrical clusters of 6 to 20 on a rachis 11–22 mm (0.43–0.87 in) long. The flowers are red with yellow or orange blotches, the pistil 18.2–22.5 mm (0.72–0.89 in) long. Flowering occurs in most months, in the absence of snow, and the fruit is a follicle 15–20 mm (0.59–0.79 in) long.

Taxonomy

Grevillea miqueliana was first formally described in 1855 by Ferdinand von Mueller in his Definitions of rare or hitherto undescribed Australian plants. The species epithet honours Dutch botanist Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel.

In 2000, William Molyneux and Val Stajsic described two subspecies of G. miqueliana in the Flora of Australia, and in 2006, they described a third in the journal Muelleria. The names of the three subspecies are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

• Grevillea miqueliana subsp. cincta Molyneux & Stajsic, commonly known as Selma Saddle grevillea;
• Grevillea miqueliana F.Muell. subsp. miqueliana, commonly known as oval-leaf grevillea;
• Grevillea miqueliana subsp. moroka Molyneux & Stajsic commonly known as Moroka grevillea.

The main difference between the morphology of the subspecies is the nature of the hairs on the branches and leaves.

Distribution and habitat

Grevillea miqueliana occurs in montane areas of eastern Victoria. Subspecies cincta is only known from two sites in subalpine areas of central Gippsland, including Mount Selma. Subspecies miqueliana is more widely distributed in central Gippsland and alpine areas of Victoria, at altitudes between 300 and 1,400 m (980 and 4,590 ft) and subsp. moroka is found at altitudes between 1,400 and 1,500 m (4,600 and 4,900 ft) in alpine areas, include the Moroka River region.

Conservation status

Subspecies cincta is listed as "endangered" and subspp. miqueliana and moroka are listed as "vulnerable" under the Victorian Government Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.

External links

• Herbarium specimen at Kew Botanic Gardens

Wikidata ☰ Q5607971 entry