Verticordia nitens

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Verticordia nitens

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Myrtaceae
Genus:	Verticordia
Species:	V. nitens

Binomial name

Verticordia nitens
(Lindl.) Endl.

Synonyms

Chrysorhoe nitens Lindl.

Verticordia nitens is an upright shrub, 0.45 to 1.8 metres tall, with glistening and perfumed flower heads. These appear between October and February in the Swan Coastal Plain, the small compact and erect flowers are shining and noted for their beauty.

The common names such as Christmas Morrison are an honorific to the professional plant collector William Morrison; the flowers occur with the same colour as Nuytsia floribunda, the Western Australian Christmas Tree. The plant is also named Kodjeningara, Kotyeningara, Morrison Featherflower, or simply Morrison.

1 Description
2 Classification
3 Cultivation
4 Conservation
5 References

[edit] Description

The species will sometimes reach heights of 3 metres, the plant can spread out to 0.9 metres from a basal stem. The leaves are needle like and are uniform at the stem or as a floral leaf. The branching arrangement is described as corymbose, whereby the terminus of the lower branches extend to the level of the upper ones. Combined with the 'corymb-like' arrangement of the compounded single flowers, the top of the plant is flattened to slightly rounded. The mass of flowers are sweet in scent and vary in colour from bright glistening heads whose petals are golden, to orange, with a lemon yellow colour, in the taller (3 meter) plants of the Gingin area.

Occurring as far north as Moore River, it will grow in deep white sand, perhaps with grey sand, and often in association with low banksia woodland. The species extends its range as far south as Yarloop, not reaching Harvey, Western Australia.

[edit] Classification

The type specimen for this species was first collected in the 1830s at the Swan River, Western Australia. It was described by Endlicher in 1838 as a member of the Verticordia genus. Lindley had previously described the species as Chrysorhoe nitens and, perhaps, Chrysorhoe nitida in 1837; this was not accepted. This genus name was revived when George placed it within Verticordia subgenus Chrysoma as the section Verticordia sect. Chrysorhoe. The staminodes of this species, infertile and modified reproductive organs, are notably shorter that its cogenors, a feature of the section Chrysorhoe. The two other species in this section can be differentiated from Verticordia nitens by the larger, more yellow to golden petals of the flowers, with broad staminodes, found on Verticordia aurea; and the early flowering, shorter staminodes and style, and lemon colour, of Verticordia patens.

[edit] Cultivation

Plate 1 from John Lindley's A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony: "Chrysorhoe nitens"

It was introduced to English gardens in 1840, but was not known to have flowered until 1861. The introduction to the eastern states of Australia has met with some success, due to the refining of the technique of propagation and the application of early pruning. Heavy pruning was first suggested by James Drummond, an early collector and promoter of the regions flora.

The species was mentioned in the early survey, A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony (Edwards's Botanical Register, 1837), and in the Botanical Magazine by W J Hooker, the illustration by Walter Fitch. In these, they note the failure of early attempts to propagate the species in England, the seeds sent from the Swan River Colony mostly failed to germinate, or the plant did not reach maturity. The Exeter and Chelsea Nurseries of Mr. and Mr. Veitch were successful, providing the subject for the illustration by Fitch.

[edit] Conservation

The species is not considered to be threatened by extinction, it is common and the populations are large. However, the plant has often been situated in the path of urban development. The steady increase in this development is likely to place the species under duress if continued. An appearance is likely in the unmanaged medians and verges of urban areas, but clearing and altered ecology restrict their former range. Their beauty has led them to be cultivated, although this has proved difficult due to a susceptibility to a fungal disease.