Plants of
South Australia
Wahlenbergia luteola
Campanulaceae
Yellowish Bluebell,
Yellow-wash Bluebell
Display all 12 images
Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
Enlarge Map
Copy Map
Copy Map
Display IBRA region text

Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 3

Prior names

Wahlenbergia bicolor

Common names

Yellowish Bluebell

Yellow-wash Bluebell

Etymology

Wahlenbergia named by H.A Schrader in honour of Georg Göran Wahlenberg (1780-1851), a Swedish professor of botany. Luteola from Latin meaning yellowish; referring to the yellowish outer colour of the flowers.

Distribution and status

Found in the southern part of South Australia, from the Gammon Ranges to the lower South-east, growing on fertile, often clayey soils derived in lowland grassland and open woodland communities. Also found in New South Wales and Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Erect perennial herb to 60 cm high with thickened taproot and few to many stems from the base, freely branched, hairless or with short hairs near the base, usually leafy for the greater part. Leaves opposite throughout or becoming alternate above base, linear (or the lowermost narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate), to 60 mm long and 4 mm wide, margins entire or with a few small callus-teeth. Flowers terminal, blue, whitish or often yellowish outside, funnel-shaped with 5 narrow-triangular lobes. Flowering between October and March. Fruits are brown narrow conical capsule to 12 mm long and 3.5 mm wide. Seed embryo type is spatulate under-developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between January and November. Collect capsules that are maturing, drying and turning brown with hard seeds inside. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for a week. Then rub the capsules gently with your hands to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Be careful as the seeds are very small. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From two collections, the seed viability were average to high, ranging from 75% to 80%.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
392,000 (7.39 g)
392,000 (7.39 g)
100+3-Jan-2008TST311
Southern Lofty
19-Sep-200880%-18°C
BGA2,500 (0.11 g)5015-Nov-2007RJB75600
Northern Lofty
19-Sep-200875%-18°C
BGA 
MSB
30,000 (0.64 g)
30,000 (0.64 g)
20+24-Nov-2010KHB459
Flinders Ranges
1-Jan-201285%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.