Plants of
South Australia
Spyridium subochreatum
Rhamnaceae
Velvet spyridium
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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
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 12

Prior names

Trymalium behrii

Pomaderris subochreata

Spyridium subochreatum var. laxiusculum

Spyridium subochreatum var. subochreatum

Cryptandra subochreata

Etymology

Spyridium from the Greek 'spyridion' meaning a small basket, referring to the flower heads which are circled by leafy bracts. Subochreatum from the Latin 'sub' meaning towards and Greek 'orchre' meaning yellow ochre, alluding to the pale yellow flowers.

Distribution and status

Found in the southern part of South Australia, growing in heath and mallee on sandy soil. Also found in Western Australia and Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Rare in Western Australia. Common in Victoria.
Herbarium regions: Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, South Eastern
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Perennial shrub, sometimes reaching more than 1 m in height. Leaves to 12 mm long and 6 mm wide, linear to linear-oblong, hoary above, sometimes becoming glabrous grey-green. Flowers in dense globular compound heads to 12 mm diameter; floral tube stellate-hairy, white. Flowering between September and December. Fruits are brown obovoid capsule to 2 mm long; covered with hairs. Seeds are flattened, obovoid orange seed to 1.5 mm long and 1 mm wide; sometimes spotted or mottled. Seed embryo type is spatulate fully-developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between November and January. Collect fruit heads that are darkening and have a fluffy appearance. Rub the flower parts in your palm to seed if there is any seed, which should be yellow and hard. 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. 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. Seed set can be low, however, viability is high. From two collections, the seed viability was average to high, ranging from 70% to 100%. This species has physiological dormancy that need to be overcome for the seed to germinate (e.g. nicking or softening the seed coat).

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
6,100 (2.44 g)
6,100 (2.44 g)
5020-Nov-2006DJD689
Murray
1-Aug-2007100%-18°C
BGA4,100 (1.48 g)7-Nov-2013JRG58
Murray
24-Mar-201570%-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.
Germination table:
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