Billardiera sericophora
{{Short description|Species of shrub endemic to South Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Billardiera sericophora 8983.jpg
|genus = Billardiera
|species = sericophora
|authority = F.Muell.{{cite web |title=Billardiera sericophora |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/55575|website=Australian Plant Census|accessdate=23 June 2023}}
|synonyms = {{collapsible list|
- Billardiera cymosa var. sericophora (F.Muell.) Benth.
- Billardiera sericophora var. megaphylla F.Muell.
- Billardiera sericophora F.Muell. var. sericophora
}}
|range_map = Billardiera sericophora DistributionMap19.png
|range_map_caption = Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium
}}
File:Billardiera sericophora habit.jpg
Billardiera sericophora is a species of flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae and is endemic to the south-east of South Australia. It is spreading shrub or climber that has mostly narrowly elliptic leaves and pendent yellow flowers arranged singly or in pairs.
Description
Billardiera sericophora is spreading, woody shrub, becoming a climber as it ages, densely covered with silky, silvery hairs. The adult leaves are mostly narrowly elliptic, {{cvt|27–48|mm}} long, {{cvt|6–10|mm}} wide and sessile. The edges of the leaves curve downwards, and both sides of the leaves are densely covered with silvery-grey hair, the upper surface becoming glabrous. The flowers are arranged singly or in groups of up to five on a down-curved, hairy peduncle {{cvt|7–12|mm}} long. The sepals are hairy and {{cvt|5–10|mm}} long and the petals yellow with purple veins and turn purple as they age, {{cvt|15–18|mm}} long. Flowering occurs from August to December and the mature fruit is a hairy, oblong berry {{cvt|16–20|mm}} long containing many seeds.{{cite web |title=Billardiera sericophora |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Billardiera%20sericophora |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra |access-date=23 June 2023}}{{cite web |title=Billardiera sericophora |url=http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/cgi-bin/speciesfacts_display.cgi?form=speciesfacts&name=Billardiera_sericophora |publisher=State Herbarium of South Australia |access-date=23 June 2023}}
Taxonomy
Billardiera sericophora was formally described in 1853 by botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in the journal Linnaea: Ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange, oder Beiträge zur Pflanzenkunde following its discovery during a botanical survey of Port Lincoln by Carl Wilhelmi.{{cite web|title=Billardiera sericophora|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/457787|publisher=APNI|access-date=23 June 2023}}{{cite journal |last1=von Mueller |first1=Ferdinand |title=Diagnoses et descriptiones plantarum novarum, quas in Nova Hollandia australi praecipue in regionibus interioribus. |journal=Linnaea: ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange, oder Beiträge zur Pflanzenkunde |date=1853 |volume=25 |pages=371–372 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/109556#page/377/mode/1up |access-date=23 June 2023}}
Distribution and habitat
This species is endemic to the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas in south-eastern South Australia where it grows in mallee scrub on coastal limestone and in the wheat belt.
References
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{{Taxonbar|from=Q4911550}}
Category:Flora of South Australia