Grevillea acropogon

Description

Grevillea acropogon is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to a restricted part of southwestern Western Australia. It is a prostrate to erect shrub with pinnatisect leaves with five to seven sharply-pointed lobes, and red flowers. Grevillea acropogon is a prostrate to erect shrub that grows to a height of up to 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) with softly-hairy young branchlets. The leaves are 15–25 mm (0.59–0.98 in) long and pinnatisect with five to seven lobes, sometimes the lobes further divided. The lobes are linear, sharply-pointed, 10–18 mm (0.39–0.71 in) long and 0.8–1.1 mm (0.031–0.043 in) wide. The flowers are red and arranged in groups of 18 to 24 on a flowering stem 12–17 mm (0.47–0.67 in) long, each flower on a pedicel 2.0–2.5 mm (0.079–0.098 in) long, the pistil 18–22 mm (0.71–0.87 in) long. Flowering occurs from June to September. Grevillea acropogon was first formally described in 2000 by Robert Owen Makinson in the Flora of Australia based on material collected near Lake Unicup, west of Frankland, in 1996. The specific epithet (acrobotrya) means "bearded at the end". This grevillea is only known from the type location, where it grows in heathland in winter-wet situations. Conservation status Grevillea acropogon is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Only five individuals were known in 2015 but after a fenced enclosure was constructed the population increased to 275 in 2014. In 2009, 150 seedlings were introduced to a new site. The main threats to the species include damage by vehicles, drought, trampling by kangaroos and changes in hydrology. Plants in the genus Grevillea are shrubs, rarely small trees with simple or compound leaves arranged alternately along the branchlets. The flowers are zygomorphic and typically arranged in pairs along a sometimes branched raceme at the ends of branchlets. The flowers are bisexual, usually with four tepals in a single whorl. There are four stamens and the gynoecium has a single carpel. The fruit is a thin-walled follicle that splits down only one side, releasing one or two seeds before the next growing season.