Hibbertia acicularis
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Prickly guinea-flower
|image = Hibbertia acicularis.jpg
|image_caption = In Bournda National Park
|status_system =
|status =
|genus = Hibbertia
|species = acicularis
|authority = (Labill.) F.Muell.{{cite web|title=Hibbertia acicularis|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/91312|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=18 March 2021}}
|synonyms =
- Hibbertia acicularis (Labill.) F.Muell. var. acicularis
- Pleurandra acicularis Labill.
}}
Hibbertia acicularis, commonly known as prickly guinea-flower,{{cite web |last1=Toelken |first1=Hellmut R. |title=Hibbertia acicularis |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/584c86f6-d38b-4c0f-a439-de66d22cb8e1 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |access-date=18 March 2021}} is a species of flowering plant in the family Dilleniaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an erect or prostrate shrub with linear to lance-shaped leaves and yellow flowers arranged singly in leaf axils with the six to eight stamens joined at the base, in a single cluster.
Description
Hibbertia acicularis is an erect to prostrate, openly-branched shrub that typically grows to a height of up to {{cvt|1|m}}. The leaves are linear to lance-shaped with an awned tip, mostly {{cvt|7–9|mm}} long and {{cvt|0.6–0.7|mm}} wide on a petiole {{cvt|0.2–0.5|mm}} long. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils on a thread-like peduncle {{cvt|2–10|mm}} long with a narrow egg-shaped bract. The sepals are {{cvt|3.8–6|mm}} long but of unequal lengths. The petals are yellow, {{cvt|3.9–5|mm}} long and egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base. The six to eight stamens are joined at the base in a single cluster, all on one side of the two carpels. The carpels are velvety to woolly hairy and there are usually two ovules per carpel. Flowering occurs from September to December.{{cite web |title=Hibbertia acicularis |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Hibbertia~acicularis |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=18 March 2021}}
Taxonomy
Prickly guinea-flower was first formally described in 1806 by Jacques Labillardière who gave it the name Pleurandra acicularis in his book Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen.{{cite web|title=Pleurandra acicularis|url= http://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/502631 |publisher=APNI|access-date=18 March 2021}}{{cite book |last1=Labillardière |first1=Jacques |title=Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen |volume=2|date=1806 |location=Paris |page=6 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/127076#page/6/mode/1up |access-date=18 March 2021}} In 1862, Ferdinand von Mueller changed the name to Hibbertia acicularis in his book The Plants Indigenous to the Colony of Victoria.{{cite web|title=Hibbertia acicularis|url= http://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/513360 |publisher=APNI|access-date=18 March 2021}}{{cite book |last1=von Mueller |first1=Ferdinand |title=The Plants Indigenous to the Colony of Victoria |date=1862 |publisher=Victorian Government Printer |location=Melbourne |page=17 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/266406#page/31/mode/1up |access-date=18 March 2021}} The specific epithet (acicularis) means "needle-pointed".{{cite book |author=Francis Aubie Sharr |author-link=Francis Aubie Sharr |title=Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, Western Australia |isbn=9780958034180 |page=126}}
Distribution and habitat
Hibbertia acicularis grows in heath, woodland and forest in south-eastern Queensland, the coast and tablelands of New South Wales, east of Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, and in Tasmania.{{cite web |last1=Jordan |first1=Greg |title=Hibbertia acicularis |url=https://www.utas.edu.au/dicotkey/dicotkey/DILLEN/SHibbertia_acicularis.htm |publisher=University of Tasmania |access-date=18 March 2021}}