Petrophile biternata
{{short description|Species of shrub endemic to Western Australia}}
{{speciesbox
|genus = Petrophile
|species = biternata
|image = Petrophile biternata.jpg
|image_caption = Near Dandaragan
|status = P3
|status_system = DECF
|authority = Meisn.{{cite web|title=Petrophile biternata|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/59421|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=3 December 2020}}
|synonyms = Petrophila biternata Meisn. orth. var.
}}
Petrophile biternata is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with biternate or pinnate, sharply-pointed leaves, and oval or spherical heads of glabrous, sticky, yellow flowers.
Description
Petrophile biternata is a shrub that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|1–2|m}} and has more or less glabrous branchlets. The leaves are biternate or pinnate, {{cvt|20–70|mm}} long on a petiole {{cvt|12–28|mm}} long with five to ten flat, sharply-pointed lobes. The flowers are arranged on the ends of branchlets in oval to spherical heads {{cvt|20–25|mm}} long, with short, sticky involucral bracts at the base. The flowers are {{cvt|12–17|mm}} long, yellow or creamy yellow, glabrous and sticky. Flowering occurs from August to October and the fruit is a nut, fused with others in an oval head about {{cvt|25|mm}} long.{{cite web |last1=Foreman |first1=David B. |title=Petrophile biternata |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Petrophile%20biternata |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra |access-date=3 December 2020}}{{FloraBase | name = Petrophile biternata | id = 2285}}
Taxonomy
Petrophile biternata was first formally described in 1855 by Carl Meissner in Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany from material collected by James Drummond between the Moore and Murchison Rivers.{{cite web|title=Petrophile biternata|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/463805|publisher=APNI|access-date=2 December 2020}}{{cite journal |last1=Meissner |first1=Carl |title=New Proteaceae of Australia |journal=Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Gardens Miscellany |date=1855 |volume=7 |page=68 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/6325#page/70/mode/1up |access-date=3 December 2020}} The specific epithet (biternata) refers to the leaves.{{cite book |last1=Sharr |first1=Francis Aubi |last2=George |first2=Alex |title=Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, WA |isbn=9780958034180 |page=147 |edition=3rd}}
Distribution and habitat
This petrophile grows in shrubland and heath in scattered populations in the Moora-Watheroo areas and near New Norcia, in southwestern Western Australia.
Conservation status
Petrophile biternata is classified as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.{{cite web|title=Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna|url=https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/plants-animals/threatened-species/Listings/Conservation%20code%20definitions.pdf|publisher=Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife|access-date=3 December 2020}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q18082205}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrophile biternata}}
Category:Eudicots of Western Australia
Category:Endemic flora of Western Australia