Grevillea aquifolium
Lindl. Holly GrevilleaErect to spreading shrub 0.7–2.0(–4) m high, or decumbent to prostrate, rarely forming mats to 10 m across. Branchlet indumentum tomentose, with strongly curled hairs. Leaves (1–)3–7(–10.5) cm long, 1–4.5 cm wide, 5–19-lobed or toothed, ovate to oblong-elliptic in outline, rarely 3–5-dentate or entire; primary lobes or teeth sometimes with a single secondary lobe on the distal edge, ultimate lobes triangular, 0.5–1.7 cm long, to 0.8 cm wide, usually pungent; lower surface densely to loosely tomentose; margin shortly recurved to almost flat. Conflorescences terminal, erect to decurved, simple, secund, 1.5–5 cm long; rachises tomentose to subvillous; perianth cream, green, grey, rarely yellow to pink or red; perianth 1.9–2.8 mm across, outer surface loosely to densely tomentose (limb often villous-bearded), inner surface glabrous; pistil 21–26 mm long, ovary stipitate, subvillous, style usually red or sometimes yellow to pink-orange, glabrous, style-end abruptly contracted into style, pollen presenter oblique. Fruits tomentose, with longitudinal reddish bands. Flowers mainly Aug.–Jan.
LoM, Wim, GleP, Brid, VVP, GipP, OtP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT. Also SA. Occurring in a wide range of habitats (e.g. heath, woodland, mallee communities, swampy areas) from the Stawell and Grampians area to the Little Desert, also Portland district. Usually on sandy soils, but some populations occur on peaty or clayey or loamy soils derived from limestone.
A very variable species in habit and foliage. Olde & Marriott (1995a) delineate a number of forms. The dominant form in the Grampians has large leaves with deep, regularly arranged triangular lobes. Also in the Grampians, a distinctive population occurs in the Mt Difficult-Lake Wartook area; this population has smaller leaves (often 1–4 cm long) with sparing obtuse shallow lobing (commonly 3–7-lobed, rarely a few 1-lobed or entire); plants of this form may be prostrate or erect, and may grow adjacent to and intergrade with the commoner form. Prostrate plants may superficially resemble G. repens, but are easily differentiated by their tomentose perianths, leaf undersurfaces, and branchlets.
Plants previously referrable to Grevillea williamsonii are now considered as a reproductively constrained, albeit morphologically recognisable variant of G. aquifolium. The flowers have withered anthers with no pollen or very shrunken grains, and plants appear to be at least male sterile. The stigmas are deformed so the plants are possibly female sterile or have a reduced female function. Haplotype network and genetic structure analyses show that G. williamsonii is not genetically distinct from G. aquifolium (James et al. 2018).
Populations in far western Victoria and South Australia have fairly large leaves, with numerous regular but shallow lobes.
Often confused with G. ilicifolia, which has the hairs on the outside of the perianth appressed, those of the ovary 'tidy' and antrorsely aligned, and those of the undersurface of the leaf usually appressed and straight.
James, E.A., Brown, G.K., Jordan, R. & Ohlsen, D.J. (2018). Rarity, taxonomy and genetics: the chequered history of Grevillea williamsonii (Proteaceae). Pacific Conservation Biology 24(3) 329–338.
Makinson, R.O. (1996). Grevillea. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 3, Dicotyledons Winteraceae to Myrtaceae, pp. 845–870. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
