Verticordia oculata

Verticordia oculata is a sprawling woody shrub found in Western Australia. The plant displays silver-white flowers with a dark centre of lilac and purple, the largest flowers of the genus Verticordia.

A low growing shrub up to 700 millimetres in height that sprawls out 0.3 - 1 metre. The species possess a lignotuber, from which several or many main stems emerge. The floral and stem leaves are circular in outline, with a distinct white margin, and attach directly to the stem. The flowers are grouped in a spreading arrangement at the upper parts of the stem. These are composed of feather-like sepals, 10 millimetres long, that have 12-14 silver-white lobes, becoming lilac to purple at the base, and petals with deeper colouration. The petals, 7-8 millimetres long, also contain 15-17 fine lobes structures which contribute to its resemblance to an eye. Flowering occurs between October to December.

The species was first described in 1856 by Carl Meissner, from a collection made by James Drummond in 1851. The botanist Ferdinand von Mueller became entranced by its floral display when he visited the area in 1877, later describing the shrub as the 'princess of Australian flora'.

Verticordia oculata is found growing with several other species of the genus, in heaths and shrublands, on white, red, and yellow sand. It occurs on sandplains and ridges in the northern regions of Southwest Australia. It has a distribution range north of the Principality of Hutt River to a locality west of the Billabong Roadhouse. Specimens are recorded near the coast and inland to Yuna.

This species and Verticordia etheliana are thought to have created a hybrid, which was discovered then lost to bushfire in the Kalbarri National Park. The collectors cloned material from their specimen and continue to propagate the natural hybrid, now known as Verticordia 'Wemms find'.

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