Billardiera fraseri

Billardiera fraseri, commonly known as elegant pronaya,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Pittosporaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a climber with densely silky-hairy new shoots, leaves and flowers, narrowly elliptic leaves and deep purple or pink flowers arranged in groups.

Billardiera fraseri
In Kensington Bushland
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Pittosporaceae
Genus: Billardiera
Species:
B. fraseri
Binomial name
Billardiera fraseri
(Hook.) L.W.Cayzer, Crisp & I.Telford[1]
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms[1]
  • Billardiera elegans (Hügel ex Endl.) F.Muell. nom. superfl.
  • Campylanthera fraseri (Hook.) Hook.
  • Pronaya elegans Hügel ex Endl.
  • Pronaya elegans Hügel isonym
  • Pronaya elegans Hügel var. elegans
  • Pronaya fraseri (Hook.) E.M.Benn.
  • Pronaya fraseri (Hook.) E.M.Benn. var. fraseri
  • Spiranthera fraseri Hook.

Description

Billardiera fraseri is a climber with densely silky-hairy new shoots, leaves and flowers. The adult leaves are narrowly elliptic with the edges turned down, 22–28 mm (0.87–1.10 in) long and 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) wide and sessile. The flowers are arranged in sessile groups with leaf-like bracts 7–9 mm (0.28–0.35 in) long at the base. The sepals are narrowly triangular, 6–12 mm (0.24–0.47 in) long and the petals are deep purple or pink, fading as they age, 12–16 mm (0.47–0.63 in) long and spatula-shaped. Flowering occurs from December to February and the mature fruit is a cylinderical berry about 20 mm (0.79 in) long.[2][3]

Taxonomy

Elegant pronaya was first formally described in 1836 by William Jackson Hooker who gave it the name Spiranthera fraseri in the Botanical Magazine from specimens collected in the Swan River Colony by Charles Fraser.[4][5] In 2004, Lindy Cayzer, Michael Crisp and Ian Telford transferred the species to Ballardiera as B. fraseri in Australian Systematic Botany.[6] The specific epithet (fraseri) honours the collector of the type specimen.[7]

Distribution and habitat

Billardiera fraseri grows on the coastal plain and cliffs on limestone, sand and gravel from near Yanchep and Muchea to North Bannister in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.[2][3]

References
  1. "Billardiera fraseri". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  2. "Billardiera fraseri". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. "Billardiera fraseri". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  4. "Spiranthera fraseri". APNI. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  5. Hooker, William J. (1836). Hooker, William J. (ed.). "Spiranthera fraseri". Curtis's Botanical Magazine. 63: 3523. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  6. "Billardiera fraseri". APNI. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  7. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 202. ISBN 9780958034180.
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