Seringia saxatilis
Seringia saxatilis, commonly known as gorge fire-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family and is endemic to Kalbarri National Park in Western Australia. It is a sprawling, open shrub with hairy young stems, oblong to broadly elliptic leaves and purple flowers arranged in groups of 3 to 6.
Description
Seringia saxatilis is a sprawling, open shrub that typically grows to a height of, about wide, and has hairy stems. The leaves are oblong to broadly elliptic, mostly long and wide on a petiole up to long with stipules up to long at the base. The leaves are lobed, crinkled and undulating, with deeply impressed veins on the upper surface. The flowers are arranged in a cyme with 3 to 6 flowers on a peduncle long, each flower on a pedicel long. The flowers are wide and purple with petal-like sepals joined at the base to form a tube with lobes 75% the length of the tube. Petals are absent and the stamens have yellow filaments, and dark coloured anthers. Flowering occurs from July to October.
Taxonomy
In 1999, Carolyn F. Wilkins described Seringia saxatilis in the journal Australian Systematic Botany from specimens collected in Kalbarri National Park in 2010. The specific epithet means "dwelling among rocks".
Distribution and habitat
This species of seringia is only known from the Kalbarri area where it grows among sandstone boulders in the Geraldton Sandplains bioregions of Western Australia.
Conservation status
Seringia saxatilis is listed as "Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.