| Verticordia spicata | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Verticordia |
| Species: | V. spicata |
| Binomial name | |
| Verticordia spicata F.Muell. |
|
Verticordia spicata is a species of flowering plant in the Myrtaceae family. It is a bushy shrub, with white to pink flowers, that occurs in Southwest Australia. The informal name is the Spiked Featherflower.
The habit of this shrub is upright to spreading, 30 centimetres to 1 metre tall (occasionally 2 metres). The species does not possess a lignotuber and has one basal stem. The leaves are ovate, densely arranged, and closely clasp the stem, the margins are narrow, translucent and slightly hairy. The spike-like arrangement of flowers are crowded at the upper part of the branching stems. The sepals are initially white or pale pink, becoming a deep mauve before fading as they age, and deeply divided into 6 - 7 fringed lobes. The pink petals also become deeper in colour, giving a two tone effect as the flowers open, darken and then fade.
The species occurs in the northern Avon Wheatbelt and Geraldton Sandplains, extending north to the Kalbarri National Park.
The first description of the species was by Ferdinand von Mueller in 1859. A revision of the genus Verticordia by Alex George (1991) placed this species in a section Verticordia sect. Verticordella of the subgenus Verticordia subg. Eperephes. George's description of a subspecies Verticordia spicata subsp. squamosa prodeced the autonym Verticordia spicata subsp. spicata. The subspecies is found in small range between Three Springs and Morawa, and is on the Declared Rare and Priority Flora List of the state's Department of Environment and Conservation.