Kingdom Plantae Family Lamiaceae Rank Species | Order Lamiales Genus Westringia | |
Similar Westringia dampieri, Westringia eremicola, Westringia glabra, Westringia, Westringia fruticosa | ||
Westringia cremnophila, commonly known as Snowy River westringia, is a rare shrub that is endemic to Victoria, Australia.
Contents
Description
The species grows to 0.5 metres high and has oblong or almost linear leaves that are about 10 to 20 mm long and 1 to 2 mm wide. The flowers, which are produced in racemes, are white with a mauve tinge and have yellow-brown spotted throats.
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described in 1957 by botanist Norman Wakefield in The Victorian Naturalist based on a type specimen collected from "Porphory cliffs above Snowy River, east of Butchers Ridge".
Distribution and habitat
The species is restricted to Tulloch Ard Gorge in the Snowy River National Park in East Gippsland. Here, it grows on cliff faces above the Snowy River with a north to north-east aspect. Associated plant species include shrubby platysace (Platysace lanceolata), violet daisy-bush (Olearia iodochroa), digger's speedwell (Veronica perfoliata), common fringe-myrtle (Calytrix tetragona) and tall baeckea (Sannantha pluriflora).
Conservation
Westringia cremnophila is listed as "vulnerable" under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, "vulnerable" on the Department of Sustainability and Environment's Advisory List of Rare Or Threatened Plants In Victoria and "threatened" under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.
Due to the species' restricted habitat in difficult terrain, plants have proved difficult to find over the years; however in 2011 about 500 plants were located.
Plants have been propagated and established at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne as an insurance population.