Beaufortia (plant)

bottlebrushes
Beaufortia orbifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Beaufortia
R.Br.
Synonyms[1]
  • Manglesia Lindl.
  • Schizopleura Endl.

Beaufortia is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, first described as a genus in 1812.[2][3] It is endemic to Southwest Australia.[1]

They are known commonly as bottlebrushes. The genus was named for the English gardener and botanist Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort.[4]

These are evergreen shrubs with very small, glandular, aromatic leaves usually oppositely arranged. The tallest are up to 3 meters in height. Most are andromonoecious, with both male and bisexual flowers. The flowers are in spikelike or headlike inflorescences. The flower has five triangular sepals and five white, yellow, red, pink, or purple petals, which are sometimes hairy. There are 15 to 75 stamens which protrude from the flower at maturity. The fruit is a dehiscent capsule with three valves, each holding a winged seed.[4]

Species[4][1]
  1. Beaufortia aestiva K.Brooks
  2. Beaufortia anisandra Schauer
  3. Beaufortia bicolor Strid
  4. Beaufortia bracteosa Diels
  5. Beaufortia cyrtodonta (Turcz.) Benth.
  6. Beaufortia dampieri A.Cunn.
  7. Beaufortia decussata R.Br. – gravel bottlebrush
  8. Beaufortia elegans Schauer
  9. Beaufortia empetrifolia (Rchb.) Schauer
  10. Beaufortia eriocephala W.Fitzg. – woolly bottlebrush
  11. Beaufortia heterophylla Turcz. – Stirling Range bottlebrush
  12. Beaufortia incana (Benth.) A.S.George
  13. Beaufortia interstans F.Muell.
  14. Beaufortia macrostemon Lindl.
  15. Beaufortia micrantha Schauer – little bottlebrush
  16. Beaufortia orbifolia F.Muell. – Ravensthorpe bottlebrush
  17. Beaufortia purpurea Lindl.
  18. Beaufortia schaueri Schauer – pink bottlebrush
  19. Beaufortia sparsa R.Br. – swamp bottlebrush
  20. Beaufortia sprengelioides (DC.) Craven
  21. Beaufortia squarrosa Schauer – sand bottlebrush

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Beaufortia.
Wikispecies has information related to: Beaufortia
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Beaufortia. World Checklist of Selected Plant Families.
  2. ↑ Brown, Robert. 1812. Hortus Kewensis; or, a Catalogue of the Plants Cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. London (2nd ed.) 4: 418
  3. ↑ Tropicos, Beaufortia R. Br.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Beaufortia. FloraBase. Western Australian Herbarium.