Grevillea pungens
{{short description|Species of plant in the Proteaceae family}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Flame grevillea
|image = Grevillea pungens.jpg
|image_caption = Grevillea pungens near Nitmiluk National Park
|genus = Grevillea
|species = pungens
|authority = R.Br.{{cite web|title=Grevillea pungens|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/111477|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=2 November 2022}}
|synonyms = Grevillea leichardtii S.Moore
}}
File:Grevillea pungens leaves.jpg
Grevillea pungens, also known as flame grevillea,{{cite web |title=Grevillea pungens |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Grevillea%20pungens |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra |access-date=4 November 2022}} is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the Northern Territory in Australia. It is a shrub with egg-shaped leaves with rigid, sharply-pointed teeth or lobes, and hairy, deep pink to orange flowers.
Description
Grevillea pungens is a shrub that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|1–3|m}}. Its leaves are egg-shaped to narrowly egg-shaped in outline, {{cvt|15–85|mm}} long and {{cvt|15–30|mm}} wide with 6 to 30 sharply-pointed, rigid, linear to triangular lobes or teeth, {{cvt|5–15|mm}} long. The lower lobes are usually toothed or divided again. The flowers are arranged in groups on one side of a rachis mostly {{cvt|40–110|mm}} long, the oldest flowers at the base. The flowers are hairy, yellow to pale green in bud, becoming white, pink, orange, red or purplish, the pistil {{cvt|15.5–17.5|mm}} long. Flowering mainly occurs in the dry season from July to November.{{cite web |title=Grevillea pungens |url=http://eflora.nt.gov.au/factsheet?id=5054 |publisher=Northern Territory Government |access-date=4 November 2022}}{{cite book |last1=Wrigley |first1=John W. |last2=Fagg |first2=Murray A. |title=Banksias, waratahs & grevilleas : and all other plants in the Australian Proteaceae family |date=1991 |publisher=Angus & Robertson |location=North Ryde, NSW, Australia |isbn=0207172773 |page=315}}
Taxonomy
Grevillea pungens was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in the Transactions of the Linnean Society of London.{{cite web|title=Grevillea pungens|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/544036|publisher=APNI|access-date=4 November 2022}}{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=Robert |title=On the Proteaceae of Jussieu |journal=Transactions of the Linnean Society of London |date=1810 |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=175 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/46585#page/199/mode/1up |access-date=4 November 2022}} The specific epithet (pungens) means "sharply pointed".{{cite book |last1=Wrigley |first1=John W. |last2=Fagg |first2=Murray A. |title=Banksias, waratahs & grevilleas : and all other plants in the Australian Proteaceae family |date=1991 |publisher=Angus & Robertson |location=North Ryde, NSW, Australia |isbn=0207172773 |page=315}}
Distribution and habitat
Flame grevillea occurs in the tropical Top End of the Northern Territory, from Gunbalanya to Gove and the lower Roper River. It grows in open eucalypt woodland on sandy soils, often among rocks or near creeks.