Conospermum

Conospermum species are shrubs or small trees ranging in height from {{convert|0.3|m|ft|sigfig=1}} to {{convert|4|m|ft|sigfig=1}}. The leaves are usually simple, linear or egg-shaped and have margins without teeth. The flowers have both male and female parts, are arranged in heads or spikes of a few to many flowers and are white pink, blue, grey or cream-coloured. The fruit is a small nut usually with a fringe of hairs at its base.{{FloraBase|name=Conospermum|id=21317}}{{cite book|last1=Corrick|first1=Margaret G.|last2=Fuhrer|first2=Bruce A.|title=Wildflowers of southern Western Australia|date=2009|publisher=Rosenberg Pub.|location=Kenthurst, N.S.W.|isbn=9781877058844|page=159|edition=3rd}}

The genus was first formally described by James Edward Smith in 1798 and the description was published in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London.{{cite web|title=Conospermum|url= http://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/488812|publisher=APNI|access-date=2 January 2016}}{{cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=James Edward|title=The Characters of Twenty New Genera of Plants|journal=Transactions of the Linnean Society of London|date=1798|volume=4|pages=213–214|doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1798.tb00530.x |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/13714#page/239/mode/1up|access-date=2 January 2016}} The name (Conospermum) is from the Ancient Greek words κῶνος (kônos) meaning "cone"{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Roland Wilbur|title=The Composition of Scientific Words|date=1956|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.}}{{rp|227}} and σπέρμα (spérma) meaning "seed"{{rp|736}} referring to the shape of the nut. Members of the genus are commonly known as smokebushes due to the grey flowers resembling smoke arising off the plant. The type species is the long leaf smokebush (C. longifolium),{{cite web|last1=Bennett|first1=Eleanor Marion|title=Conospermum Sm|url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Conospermum|publisher=Flora of Australia Online|access-date=4 January 2016}} though Smith did not get around to describing it until 1806.

Australian botanists Lawrie Johnson and Barbara Briggs placed Conospermum in the subtribe Conosperminae along with the genus Synaphea in their 1975 monograph "On the Proteaceae: the evolution and classification of a southern family".{{cite journal|author = L. A. S. Johnson and Briggs, B. G. | year = 1975 | title = On the Proteaceae: the evolution and classification of a southern family | journal = Journal of the Linnean Society of London. Botany | volume = 70 | pages = 83–182 | doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.1975.tb01644.x|issue = 2}} Molecular evidence confirmed the two genera are each other's closest relatives.{{cite journal |author1=Weston, Peter H. |author2=Barker, Nigel P. | year = 2006 | title = A new suprageneric classification of the Proteaceae, with an annotated checklist of genera | journal = Telopea | volume = 11 | issue = 3 | pages = 314–44|doi=10.7751/telopea20065733|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 | doi-access = free }}

Conospermum species are found in all mainland Australian states. Most species occur in the south-west of Western Australia but 6 species occur in New South Wales and one in Tasmania.{{cite web|last1=Mackay|first1=David|title=Genus Conospermum|url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=gn&name=Conospermum|publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney:Plantnet|access-date=2 January 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Jordan|first1=Greg|title=Conospermum|url=http://www.utas.edu.au/dicotkey/dicotkey/PROTS/gConospermum.htm|publisher=University of Tasmania|access-date=2 January 2016}}

Members of this genus have flowers that are pollinated by insects. The flowers are unusual in that when they open, the style is compressed. When an insect lands on the flower, the style flicks from one side of the flower to the other, at the same time collecting pollen and adding adhesive to the insect. The fertile anthers then "explode" dusting the insect with pollen.{{cite journal|last1=Carolin|first1=Roger|title=Pollination of the Proteaceae|journal=Australian Museum Magazine|date=1961|volume=13|issue=11|pages=371–374|url=http://australianmuseum.net.au/uploads/documents/30384/ams368_v13-11_lowres.pdf|access-date=4 January 2016}}{{cite journal|last1=Stone|first1=Lynley M.|title=Floral biology and propagation of blue-flowered Conospermum species|journal=PhD Thesis|date=2003|page=4|url=http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/351/2/02Whole.pdf|access-date=2 January 2016}}{{cite journal|last1=Houston|first1=Terry F.|title=Leioproctus bees associated with Western Australian smoke bushes (Conospermum spp.) and their adaptations for foraging and concealment|journal=Records of the Western Australian Museum|date=1989|volume=14|issue=3|pages=275–292|url=http://museum.wa.gov.au/research/records-supplements/records/leioproctus-bees-associated-western-australian-smoke-bushes-con|access-date=4 January 2016}} The force of the "flick" can kill small ants and flies. Some bees in the genus Leioproctus (L. conospermi, L. pappus and L. tomentosus) feed exclusively on one or two species of Conospermum obtaining both nectar and pollen. Some appear to be camouflaged, having white eyes, milky-coloured wings and bodies covered with white hair. Leioproctus can be considered as closely co-evolved. Other bees are too large to fit inside the unscented tubular flowers of Conospermum, According to a 2020 paper, ant pollination, which is quite rare in plants, is a key component of Conospermum pollination because the plant has overcome the ant's antimicrobial defenses. "Although ants were generalist visitors, they carried a pollen load with 68–86 % of suitable grains. Moreover, ants significantly contributed to the seed set of C. undulatum."{{Cite web|title=Bees? Please. These plants are putting ants to work|url=https://phys.org/news/2020-06-bees-ants.html|access-date=2020-06-11|website=phys.org|language=en}}{{Cite journal|last1=Delnevo|first1=Nicola|last2=van Etten|first2=Eddie J.|last3=Clemente|first3=Nicola|last4=Fogu|first4=Luna|last5=Pavarani|first5=Evelina|last6=Byrne|first6=Margaret|last7=Stock|first7=William D.|title=Pollen adaptation to ant pollination: a case study from the Proteaceae|journal=Annals of Botany|year=2020 |volume=126 |issue=3 |pages=377–386 |language=en|doi=10.1093/aob/mcaa058 |pmid=32227077 |pmc=7424750 |doi-access=free}}

Although not common in horticulture, some members of the genus Conospermum, especially the Western Australian smoke bushes are particularly attractive. The western species are difficult to propagate and the eastern ones are not of great horticultural potential.{{cite book|last1=Wrigley|first1=John W.|last2=Fagg|first2=Murray|title=Australian native plants : a manual for their propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping|date=1983|publisher=Collins|location=Sydney|isbn=978-0002165754|pages=200–201|edition=2nd}}

Four species—summer smokebush (C. crassinervium), plume smokebush (C. incurvum), common smokebush (C. stoechadis) and tree smokebush (C. triplinervium)—are used in the cut flower industry. Mostly harvested from the wild, they are difficult to cultivate,{{cite book |author1=Wrigley, John |author2=Fagg, Murray |title=Banksias, Waratahs and Grevilleas |year=1991 |publisher=Angus & Robertson |location=Sydney, New South Wales |isbn=978-0-207-17277-9 | pages=132–33}} although information on growing 6 species on a commercial scale is available.{{cite web|title=Smokebush for cutflower production|url=https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/nursery-cutflowers/smokebush-cutflower-production?page=0%2C0|publisher=Government of Western Australia Department of Agriculture and Food|access-date=4 January 2016}}

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• Conospermum acerosum – needle-leaved smokebush (W.A.)
• Conospermum amoenum – blue smokebush (W.A.)
• Conospermum boreale (W.A.)
• Conospermum brachyphyllum (W.A.)
• Conospermum bracteosum (W.A.)
• Conospermum brownii – blue-eyed smokebush (W.A.)
• Conospermum burgessiorum (N.S.W., Qld.)
• Conospermum caeruleum – blue brother (W.A.)
• Conospermum canaliculatum (W.A.)
• Conospermum capitatum (W.A.)
• Conospermum cinereum (W.A.)
• Conospermum coerulescens (W.A.)
• Conospermum crassinervium – summer smokebush, tassel smokebush (W.A.)
• Conospermum croniniae (W.A.)
• Conospermum densiflorum – crown smokebush (W.A.)
• Conospermum distichum (W.A.)
• Conospermum eatoniae – blue lace (W.A.)
• Conospermum ellipticum (N.S.W.)
• Conospermum ephedroides (W.A.)
• Conospermum ericifolium (N.S.W.)
• Conospermum filifolium (W.A.)
• Conospermum flexuosum – tangled smokebush (W.A.)
• Conospermum floribundum (W.A.)
• Conospermum galeatum (W.A.)
• Conospermum glumaceum – hooded smokebush (W.A.)
• Conospermum hookeri – Tasmanian smokebush (Tas.)
• Conospermum huegelii – slender smokebush (W.A.)
• Conospermum incurvum – plume smokebush (W.A.)
• Conospermum leianthum (W.A.)
• Conospermum longifolium – long leaf smokebush (N.S.W.)
• Conospermum microflorum (W.A.)
• Conospermum mitchellii - Victorian smokebush (Vic.)
• Conospermum multispicatum (W.A.)
• Conospermum nervosum (W.A.)
• Conospermum paniculatum (W.A.)
• Conospermum patens – slender smokebush (Vic., S.A.)
• Conospermum petiolare (W.A.)
• Conospermum polycephalum (W.A.)
• Conospermum quadripetalum (W.A.)
• Conospermum scaposum (W.A.)
• Conospermum sigmoideum (W.A.)
• Conospermum spectabile (W.A.)
• Conospermum sphacelatum (Qld.)
• Conospermum stoechadis – common smokebush (W.A.)
• Conospermum taxifolium – variable smoke-bush, yew-leaf smoke bush or paint brush (N.S.W., Qld., Vic.)
• Conospermum tenuifolium – sprawling smoke-bush, slender wire lily (N.S.W.)
• Conospermum teretifolium – spider smokebush (W.A.)
• Conospermum toddii – Victoria Desert smokebush (W.A.)
• Conospermum triplinervium – tree smokebush, elk smokebush (W.A.)
• Conospermum undulatum – wavy-leaved smokebush (W.A.)
• Conospermum unilaterale (W.A.)
• Conospermum wycherleyi (W.A.)

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• {{Commons category-inline|Conospermum|Conospermum}}

{{Proteaceae genera}}

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Category:Proteaceae genera

Category:Proteales of Australia

Category:Endemic flora of Australia