Plants of
South Australia
Spyridium eriocephalum var. glabrisepalum
Rhamnaceae
Macgillivray Spyridium
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
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Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
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Extinct
Data deficient
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Etymology

Spyridium from the Greek 'spyridion' meaning a small basket, referring to the flower-heads which are circled by leafy bracts. Eriocephalum from the Greek 'erion' meaning woolly and 'cephalum' meaning head, referring to its woolly fruit-heads. Glabrisepalum from the Latin 'glaber' meaning smooth and 'sepalus' meaning sepals, referring to its glabrous sepals giving the flower-heads of the variety a non-woolly appearance.

Distribution and status

Endemic to South Australia and found on the eastern side of Kangaroo Island, growing in Eucalyptus diversifolia and E. cneorifolia mallee. Native. Very rare in South Australia.
Herbarium region: Kangaroo Island
NRM region: Kangaroo Island
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Low slender shrub to 1 m high, young branches with whitish hairs. Leaves rigid, linear to 10 mm long and 1 mm wide, taper at each end and have strong revolute margins. Inflorescence a dense cymose at the end of stems with funnel shaped white or cream flowers, with glabrous, thick sepals giving the flower-head a non-woolly appearance. Flowering between August and November. This variety differ from the other variety found in South Australia, Spyridium eriocephalum var. eriocephalum which have hairy sepals hairy giving the flower-head a woolly appearance. Fruits are dark brown head with numerous seed capsules. Seeds are orange mottled ovoid seed to 1.5 mm long and 1 mm wide, with a smooth surface. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between October and December. Collect fruit heads that are darkening and have a fluffy appearance. Rub the flower parts in your palm to see if there is any seed, which should be orange and hard.

In 2016 seed collections were achieved for three roadside populations on Kangaroo island with the support of the Australian Seed Bank Partnership. Place the heads in a tray and leave to dry for a week. Then rub the heads with your hands or a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. 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 one collection, the seed viability was high, at 100%. This species has morphophysiological dormancy that need to be overcome for the seed to germinate.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
1,000 (0.42 g)
1,000 (0.42 g)
26211-Feb-2004ERT6
Kangaroo Island
95%-18°C
BGA6,400 (3.47 g)30+12-Dec-2016DJD3560
Kangaroo Island
1-Nov-2017100%+5°C, -18°C, -80°C
BGA6,400 (3.76 g)30+15-Dec-2016JRG533A
Kangaroo Island
1-Nov-201795%+5°C, -18°C, -80°C
BGA4,400 (3.19 g)30+15-Dec-2016JRG532
Kangaroo Island
1-Nov-201790%+5°C, -18°C, -80°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.
Germination table:
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