Hibbertia monticola


Hibbertia monticola, commonly known as mountain guinea flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Dilleniaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Queensland. It is a shrub with elliptic to egg-shaped leaves, and yellow flowers with many stamens arranged around three glabrous carpels.

Description

Hibbertia monticola is a shrub that typically grows to a height of up to. The leaves are elliptic to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a short petiole. The edges of the leaves curve downwards, the upper surface has a few white hairs along the mid-vein but the lower surface is glabrous. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils and are sessile. The five sepals are long and joined at the base, with conspicuous white hairs on the edges of the lobes. The five petals are yellow, long with many stamens arranged around three glabrous carpels.

Taxonomy

Hibbertia monticola was first formally described in 1984 by Trevor Donald Stanley in the journal Austrobaileya from specimens collected by Cyril Tenison White on Mount Ernest in 1932. The specific epithet means "dweller in mountains".

Distribution and habitat

Mountain guinea flower is only known from the Mount Barney National Park in south-eastern Queensland, where it grows in rocky places at altitudes above.

Conservation status

This hibbertia is classified as "near threatened" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992.