Botanical art
Prior names
Hibbertia billardieri, partly
Hibbertia aspera, partly
Hibbertia sp. C, partly
Hibbertia aspera, partly
Common names
Pale Guinea-flower
Round-leaf Guinea-flower
Etymology
Hibbertia, named after George Hibbert (1757-1837), a London merchant who maintained a private botanic garden at Chelsea. Pallidiflora from the Latin 'pallidus', meaning pale and 'florus', meaning flower, referring to the pale-yellow petals.
Distribution and status
Found on the tip of Yorke and Fleurieu Peninsulas, Kangaroo Island and in the South-east in South Australia, growing on moist sandy to gravelly soils, sometimes close to temporarily flooded areas; commonly associated with limestone, mainly in scrub of coastal heath or mallee vegetation. Also found in Victoria. Native. Uncommon in South Australia. Rare in Victoria.
Herbarium regions: Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Dense shrublets with flexible branches often scrambling to 1.5 m rarely up to 4 m high, covered in hairs. Leaves without axillary tuft of hairs; petiole to 1.6 mm long; leaves obovate to oblanceolate, 10.4 mm long and 7.2 mm wide; rounded to rarely obtuse with apex of central vein bulging and covered with stellate hairs; more or less abruptly tapering into petiole; usually flat, hairy above and below. Flowers pale-yellow petals being shorter than the calyx and remaining tubular (not opening widely), on peduncle to 17.3 mm long; terminal on all branches, or leaf-opposing when over-topped by growth from axillary buds, with linear bract. Flowering between August and December. Fruits are brown capsule with 2 carpels, pubescent, with erect styles from the apex. Seeds are brown ovoid seed to 2.5 mm long and 2 mm wide.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between October and January. Collect mature capsules that are turning a pale straw-colour and contain brown seeds. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then rub the capsules gently by hand 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. This genus tend to have low seed viability. From one collection, the seed viability was average, at 50%. This species has morpho-physiological dormancy and can be difficult to germinate.
Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BGA MSB | 1,180 (3.33 g) 1,180 (3.33 g) | 60 | 14-Nov-2006 | DJD668 Kangaroo Island | 1-Aug-2007 | 50% | -18°C |
BGA | 1,384 (2.132 g) | 13 | 16-Jan-2022 | JRG865 Kangaroo Island | 7-Jul-2022 | 45% | -18°C |
BGA | 1,380 (3.820 g) | 18 | 2-Dec-2021 | D.A.Young (West Bay Road) Kangaroo Island | 7-Jul-2022 | 70% | -18°C |
BGA | 3,800 (10.490 g) | 10 | 18-Dec-2021 | D.A.Young (Vivonne Bay) Kangaroo Island | 7-Jul-2022 | 5% | -18°C |