Adenanthos ileticos
Encyclopedia
Adenanthos ileticos is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae
. It has roughly triangular, lobed leaves, and pale pink-red and cream, inconspicuous flowers. A rare species, it is known only from a single location in the south-west
of Western Australia
. It was discovered in 1968, and immediately brought into cultivation, but it would not be formally published and named until a decade later.
ous shrub, usually up to 2 m (7 ft) high, but occasionally to 3 m (10 ft). It has roughly triangular leaves, up to 10 mm long and around 5 mm wide, with three lobes across the top. The flowers, which appear between August and November, are pale pink-red and cream, with a style which is about 32 mm long.
It is somewhat similar in appearance to A. cuneatus
and A. forrestii, but the former has much larger leaves, and the other much deeper lobes, than A. ileticos.
in 1968. Wrigley took cuttings and the plant was established in cultivation at the gardens. Later, Ernest Charles Nelson
worked with Wrigley while developing a comprehensive taxonomic revision of Adenanthos
. He recognised the cultivated plants as an undescribed species, and in 1973 revisited Wrigley's collection location to collect further native specimens. When he eventually published his revision in 1978, he gave this species the specific epithet ileticos from the Greek
word for wriggle, as a pun on Wrigley. Wrigley states "his Irish sense of humour showed through when assigning the... name".
Nelson followed George Bentham
in dividing Adenanthos into two sections, placing A. ileticos into A. sect. Adenanthos
because its perianth tube is fairly straight, and not swollen above the middle. He further divided the section into two subsections, with A. ileticos placed into A. subsect. Adenanthos for reasons including the length of its perianth. However Nelson discarded his own subsections in his 1995 treatment of Adenanthos for the Flora of Australia
series of monographs.
The placement of A. ileticos in Nelson's arrangement of Adenanthos
may be summarised as follows:
The species is said to be not closely related to any other species, with its closest relatives probably being A. cuneatus and perhaps A. forrestii.
. It is locally quite abundant there, growing in sandy soil amongst open woodland of Eucalyptus
and Hakea multilineata.
and road construction. It was gazetted as rare in 1980, thus affording it legislative protection under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950
; but it has since been downgraded to "Priority Four - Rare" on the Department of Environment and Conservation's Declared Rare and Priority Flora List. This means that the species is considered to be rare, but there do not appear to be any serious threats to its survival.
It is highly susceptible to Phytophthora cinnamomi
dieback.
Proteaceae
Proteaceae is a family of flowering plants distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises about 80 genera with about 1600 species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae they make up the order Proteales. Well known genera include Protea, Banksia, Embothrium, Grevillea,...
. It has roughly triangular, lobed leaves, and pale pink-red and cream, inconspicuous flowers. A rare species, it is known only from a single location in the south-west
Southwest Australia
Southwest Australia is a biodiversity hotspot that includes the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregions of Western Australia. The region has a wet-winter, dry-summer Mediterranean climate, one of five such regions in the world...
of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. It was discovered in 1968, and immediately brought into cultivation, but it would not be formally published and named until a decade later.
Description
Adenanthos ileticos grows as an erect, spreading lignotuberLignotuber
A lignotuber is a starchy swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem by fire. The crown contains buds from which new stems may sprout, and a sufficient store of nutrients to support a period of growth in the absence of...
ous shrub, usually up to 2 m (7 ft) high, but occasionally to 3 m (10 ft). It has roughly triangular leaves, up to 10 mm long and around 5 mm wide, with three lobes across the top. The flowers, which appear between August and November, are pale pink-red and cream, with a style which is about 32 mm long.
It is somewhat similar in appearance to A. cuneatus
Adenanthos cuneatus
Adenanthos cuneatus is a shrub of the Proteaceae family, native to the south coast of Western Australia. It was originally described by French naturalist Jacques Labillardière in 1805. Within the genus Adenanthos, it lies in the section Adenanthos and is most closely related to A. stictus. A....
and A. forrestii, but the former has much larger leaves, and the other much deeper lobes, than A. ileticos.
Taxonomy
This species was first collected by John Wrigley of the Australian National Botanic GardensAustralian National Botanic Gardens
The Australian National Botanic Gardens are located in Canberra and are administered by the Australian Government's Department of the Environment and Heritage....
in 1968. Wrigley took cuttings and the plant was established in cultivation at the gardens. Later, Ernest Charles Nelson
Ernest Charles Nelson
Ernest Charles Nelson is a botanist who specialises in the Proteaceae family, especially the Adenanthos genus; and the Ericaceae, especially Erica. He is the author of over 20 books and more than 150 research papers...
worked with Wrigley while developing a comprehensive taxonomic revision of Adenanthos
Adenanthos
Adenanthos is an genus of Australian native shrubs in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. Variable in habit and leaf shape, it is the only Proteaceae genus in which solitary flowers is the norm. It was discovered in 1791, and formally published by Jacques Labillardière in 1805. There are now 33...
. He recognised the cultivated plants as an undescribed species, and in 1973 revisited Wrigley's collection location to collect further native specimens. When he eventually published his revision in 1978, he gave this species the specific epithet ileticos from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
word for wriggle, as a pun on Wrigley. Wrigley states "his Irish sense of humour showed through when assigning the... name".
Nelson followed George Bentham
George Bentham
George Bentham CMG FRS was an English botanist, characterized by Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century".- Formative years :...
in dividing Adenanthos into two sections, placing A. ileticos into A. sect. Adenanthos
Adenanthos sect. Adenanthos
Adenanthos sect. Adenanthos is a taxonomic section of the flowering plant genus Adenanthos . It comprises 29 species. The centre of diversity is southwest Western Australia, with two species extending into South Australia and western Victoria.-Description:The section is characterised by flowers in...
because its perianth tube is fairly straight, and not swollen above the middle. He further divided the section into two subsections, with A. ileticos placed into A. subsect. Adenanthos for reasons including the length of its perianth. However Nelson discarded his own subsections in his 1995 treatment of Adenanthos for the Flora of Australia
Flora of Australia (series)
The Flora of Australia is a 59 volume series describing the vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens present in Australia and its external territories...
series of monographs.
The placement of A. ileticos in Nelson's arrangement of Adenanthos
Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos
Ernest Charles Nelson's taxonomic arrangement of Adenanthos was the first modern-day arrangement of that plant genus. First published in his 1978 Brunonia article "A taxonomic revision of the genus Adenanthos ", it superseded the arrangement of George Bentham, which had stood for over a hundred years...
may be summarised as follows:
- AdenanthosAdenanthosAdenanthos is an genus of Australian native shrubs in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. Variable in habit and leaf shape, it is the only Proteaceae genus in which solitary flowers is the norm. It was discovered in 1791, and formally published by Jacques Labillardière in 1805. There are now 33...
- A. sect. EurylaemaAdenanthos sect. EurylaemaAdenanthos sect. Eurylaema is a taxonomic section of the flowering plant genus Adenanthos . It comprises four species, all of which are endemic to southwest Western Australia.-Description:...
(4 species) - A. sect. AdenanthosAdenanthos sect. AdenanthosAdenanthos sect. Adenanthos is a taxonomic section of the flowering plant genus Adenanthos . It comprises 29 species. The centre of diversity is southwest Western Australia, with two species extending into South Australia and western Victoria.-Description:The section is characterised by flowers in...
- A. drummondiiAdenanthos drummondiiAdenanthos drummondii is a shrub of the Proteaceae family, native to the south coast of Western Australia. Within the genus Adenanthos, it lies in the section Adenanthos and is most closely related to A. stictus....
- A. dobagiiAdenanthos dobagiiAdenanthos dobagii, commonly known as Fitzgerald Woollybush, is a shrub in the family Proteaceae. It grows to a mere 50 cm high, with crowded small silvery leaves and insignificant pink or cream flowers...
- A. apiculatusAdenanthos apiculatusAdenanthos apiculatus is a shrub of the Proteaceae family, native to the south coast of Western Australia. Within the genus Adenanthos, it lies in the section Adenanthos and has had only 29 records of occurrence....
- A. linearisAdenanthos linearisAdenanthos linearis is a shrub of the Proteaceae family, native to the south coast of Western Australia. Within the genus Adenanthos, it lies in the section Adenanthos and has had only 14 occurrences; out of those 14, only 5 have had exact coordinates....
- A. pungensAdenanthos pungensAdenanthos pungens is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia....
(2 subspecies) - A. gracilipes
- A. venosus
- A. dobsonii
- A. glabrescensAdenanthos glabrescensAdenanthos glabrescens is a species of small shrub endemic to the Ravensthorpe area in southwest Western Australia. First published in 1978, there are two subspecies.-Description:...
(2 subspecies) - A. ellipticus
- A. cuneatusAdenanthos cuneatusAdenanthos cuneatus is a shrub of the Proteaceae family, native to the south coast of Western Australia. It was originally described by French naturalist Jacques Labillardière in 1805. Within the genus Adenanthos, it lies in the section Adenanthos and is most closely related to A. stictus. A....
- A. stictusAdenanthos stictusAdenanthos cuneatus is a shrub of the Proteaceae family, native to the south coast of Western Australia. It was described by Alex George in 1974....
- A. ileticos
- A. forrestii
- A. eyreiAdenanthos eyreiAdenanthos eyrei is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. Restricted to a single cliff-top dune system on the remote south coast of Western Australia, it is listed as rare and endangered. It was discovered by E...
- A. cacomorphusAdenanthos cacomorphusAdenanthos cacomorphus is a small shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is found in southwestern Australia.-Description:Adenanthos cacomorphus grows as a small lignotuberous shrub up to one metre high. The soft and hairy leaves are more or less triangular in shape with 3 to 5 apical lobes...
- A. flavidiflorus
- A. argyreusAdenanthos argyreusAdenanthos argyreus is a species of erect shrub endemic to southwest Western Australia....
- A. macropodianusAdenanthos macropodianusAdenanthos macropodianus, commonly known as Gland Flower, or Kangaroo Island Gland Flower, is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Kangaroo Island in South Australia...
- A. terminalisAdenanthos terminalisAdenanthos terminalis, commonly known as Gland Flower, Yellow Gland Flower or Adenanthos, is a one metre tall shrub in the Proteaceae family...
- A. sericeusAdenanthos sericeusAdenanthos sericeus, commonly known as Woolly Bush, is a shrub native to the south coast of Western Australia. It has bright red but small and obscure flowers, and very soft, deeply divided, hairy leaves.-Description:...
(2 subspecies) - A. × cunninghamiiAdenanthos × cunninghamiiAdenanthos × cunninghamii, commonly known as Woollybush, Albany Woollybush or Prostrate Woollybush, is a hybrid shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.-Description:...
- A. oreophilusAdenanthos oreophilusAdenanthos oreophilus, commonly known as Woollybush, is a species of tall shrub endemic to southwest Western Australia. It is closely related to the better known A. sericeus , and was only classified as a species distinct from the latter in 1978 by Irish botanist E...
- A. cygnorumAdenanthos cygnorumAdenanthos cygnorum, commonly known as common woollybush or just woollybush, is a tall shrub in the Proteaceae family. It is endemic to Western Australia, commonly occurring in the south west of the State from north of Geraldton south to Kojonup...
(2 subspecies) - A. meisneriAdenanthos meisneriAdenanthos meisneri, commonly known as Prostrate Woollybush, is a species of shrub in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia....
- A. velutinus
- A. filifoliusAdenanthos filifoliusAdenanthos filifolius is a species of erect shrub endemic to southwest Western Australia. It was first described by George Bentham in 1870....
- A. labillardiereiAdenanthos labillardiereiAdenanthos labillardierei is a species of erect shrub endemic to the slopes of the Barren Ranges in the Fitzgerald River National Park in southwest Western Australia.-Description:It grows as an erect shrub, usually less than m in height...
- A. acanthophyllus
- A. drummondii
- A. sect. Eurylaema
The species is said to be not closely related to any other species, with its closest relatives probably being A. cuneatus and perhaps A. forrestii.
Common names
The common name most often reported for A. ileticos is Club-leaf Adenanthos. However Nelson regards this as a "concocted" common name, "rather crudely made up from an English word or two tagged on to unitalicized Adenanthos". He notes that the leaves of this species resemble neither a cudgel nor the symbol of the clubs card suit, making club-leaf a misnomer; and he adds that Wrigley's "would have respectfully preserved the associations intended by the original author".Distribution and habitat
This species is known only from a single location around 10 to 30 km (5–20 mi) south of Salmon Gums on the Coolgardie Esperance Highway in southern Western AustraliaWestern Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. It is locally quite abundant there, growing in sandy soil amongst open woodland of Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
and Hakea multilineata.
Conservation status
Though locally abundant within its range, A. ileticos is only known from a single location. The habitat there is very badly disturbed and is threatened by use of the area for agricultureAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and road construction. It was gazetted as rare in 1980, thus affording it legislative protection under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950
Wildlife Conservation Act 1950
The Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 is an act of the Western Australian Parliament that provides the statute relating to conservation and legal protection of flora and fauna....
; but it has since been downgraded to "Priority Four - Rare" on the Department of Environment and Conservation's Declared Rare and Priority Flora List. This means that the species is considered to be rare, but there do not appear to be any serious threats to its survival.
It is highly susceptible to Phytophthora cinnamomi
Phytophthora cinnamomi
Phytophthora cinnamomi is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants called root rot or dieback. The plant pathogen is one of the world's most invasive species and is present in over 70 countries from around the world.- Life cycle and effects on plants :P...
dieback.