Verticordia monadelpha

Pink cauliflower
V. monadelpha var. callitricha
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Myrtaceae
Genus:	Verticordia
Subgenus:	Verticordia
Section:	Intricata
Species:	V. monadelpha
Binomial name
Verticordia monadelpha Turcz.

Verticordia monadelpha is a shrub found in Southwest Australia.

It is commonly referred to by the names Pink Morrison, Woolly Featherflower, Pink or White Woolly Featherflower, and Pink Cauliflower.

Description

The species is varies in sizes up to 1.7 metres and 2.0 metres in diameter, with many branches on a single main stem. The habit of the shrub is dense and rounded. The plant displays pink to reddish purple flowers, during a period from October to January. These are crowded and erect, in a corymbose arrangement that cover the rounded shrub in blooms. Long cilia form a fringe on each flower, this gives the plant a wooly appearance. The leaves are long and thin, coming to a point, and are sharply triangular and ridged in outline. The length is between 7 and 20 mm long. Floral leaves are similar to those found on the stem.

V. monadelpha is found on deep sand, gravelly sand, and lateritic soils. It often occurs with other Verticordia in heathlands and open shrubland, perhaps in association with Actinstrobus arenarius and Banksia sceptrum. It occurs in woodlands, sandplains, and heathland of regions northeast of Perth.

The first description of this species was published by Turczaninow from a specimen collected by James Drummond, sometime in the 1840s.^[1] V. monadelpha is the type species nominated by Alex George for the section of Verticordia known as Verticordia sect. Intricata.

Varieties

In his 1991 revision of the genus Verticordia, George named two varieties of this species.^[2]

The variety Verticordia monadelpha var. monadelpha is based on the original description. These shrubs have a wider distribution than the second section, and are found in the Carnarvon and Yalgoo regions, the Avon Wheatbelt and on the Geraldton Sandplains. The soil types preferred by this section also include red loam and grey sand.

George transferred the botanical name Verticordia callitricha of Meisner's description to a new taxon Verticordia monadelpha var. callitricha. This variety is between 0.3 to 0.6 metres, or up to 1.7 metres, rounded, but greater in height than width. The plant sometimes attains a size over 1.3 metres tall and 1.2 metres in width. The distribution is restricted to an area north of Geraldton. This range is bounded by the Emu Proof Fence in the north, and is found in the Kalbarri National Park and south-east toward Morawa. The plant is referred to as the Pink Cauliflower, the form of the tightly bunched flowers resembles the arrangement of a cauliflower. The type specimen was collected by Drummond in 1850-51.

Conservation status

Verticordia monadelpha populations were once threatened by overexploitation for cut flowers, but are now protected by state's general prohibition of wildflower picking. The commonly occurring variety is vulnerable to changes in land use and altered fire regimes. The variety Verticordia monadelpha var. monadelpha is located in a National Park.

Notes

References