Stirlingia simplex

taxobox
name = "Stirlingia simplex"
regnum = Plantae
unranked_divisio = Angiosperms
unranked_classis = Eudicots
ordo = Proteales
familia = Proteaceae
genus = "Stirlingia"
species = "S. simplex"
species_authority = Lindl.|

"Stirlingia simplex" is a plant endemic to Western Australia.

Description

A woody perennial, "S. simplex" can grow as a shrub or as suckering herb with short-lived stems arising from a perennial rootstock. Stems may be up to ten centimetres long, and the plant as a whole grows to a height of from ten to 60 centimetres, rarely to one metre. It has soft leaves that bifurcate repeatedly into lobes, with the final lobes measuring from two to twenty millimetres long. Flowers are cream or yellow, and occur in dense heads from ten to 15 millimetres in diameter, atop scapes up to 60 centimetres tall.FloraBase | name = "Stirlingia simplex" Lindl. | id = 2317] Flora of Australia Online | name = "Stirlingia simplex" Lindl. | id = 2056]

Taxonomy

The species was first published by John Lindley in his 1839 "A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony", based on unspecified material. Lindley commented that it "resembles a Sanicula".A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony]

Since that time, it has had a fairly straightforward taxonomic history. It has only two synonyms:
* Carl Meissner published "S. capillifolia" in 1855, but this was declared a taxonomic synonym of "S. simplex" by Alex George in 1995.APNI | name = "Stirlingia capillifolia" Meisn. | id = 29879] APNI | name = "Stirlingia simplex" Lindl. | id = 30000]
* In 1884 Ferdinand von Mueller proposed to transfer "Stirlingia" to "Simsia", the original, albeit illegal, name for the genus. His transfer was not accepted, and "Simsia simplex" is now a nomenclatural synonym of "Stirlingia simplex".APNI | name = "Simsia simplex" Muell. | id = 22297]

Distribution and habitat

It occurs throughout much of the Southwest Botanic Province of Western Australia, from Eneabba in the north, south to Waroona and east to Hyden. It grows in a variety of soils, amongst proteaceous-myrtaceous heath and eucalypt woodland, and prefers seasonally wet areas.

Ecology

It is not considered threatened.

References