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August 18, 2009 : Daviesia rhombifolia
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Plant Family / Families: Fabaceae
Scientific Name and Author: Daviesia rhombifolia Meissner
Name Location: Mt. Dale, Shire of Beverley, Australia
Uncle Pedro took today's Botany Photo of the Day on Mt. Dale, in western Australia's Shire of Beverley. At 546 metres, the mountain stands among the highest peaks in the Darling Scarp, one of the region's most pronounced landforms. We of course extend our gratitude to Uncle Pedro for the photo, which gives us occasion to admire and discuss a plant that we have never before featured on BPotD. (Original image)
Daviesia rhombifolia is a member of Fabaceae, the third largest family of flowering plants. The family, which derives its scientific name from the Latin for 'broad bean', consists of 730 genera and over 19400 species. These species range from herbaceous annuals and perennials to massive trees, and they variously put forth economically important fruits and nuts such as beans, peas, and peanuts. While all species exhibit indeterminate inflorescences and most don alternate compound leaves, Fabaceae members (like members of Rosaceae and Grossulariaceae) are generally distinguished by showy flowers equipped with a cup-shaped hypanthium in which the basal parts of sepals, petals, and stamens are fused together.
Daviesia is a genus native to Australia, particularly to areas in the country's southeast and southwest. It is named in honour of the Welsh botanist Hugh Davies (1739-1821), who penned a lengthy bilingual treatise on the flora of his native country's Isle of Anglesey. Typically, Daviesia species—which thrive in woodlands and shrublands—are identified by their triangular pods, their sterile bracts, and their scleromorphic (i.e., hard, leathery) leaves.
Today's plant, D. rhombifolia, is an erect shrub that presses its many stems up to a maximum height of around 1 metre, particularly when sited in hilly habitats of sandy or gravelly soil. In midsummer, the plant puts forth the flowers that today's photograph renders so nicely, and which range from different shades of yellow and red to brown in colour. Notice the thick, lime-green veins that navigate and border the simple, bluish leaves; notice too the refulgent peach-pit centre of the flower, which no doubt attracts hordes of potential pollinators.
Posted by Stephen Coughlin (summer student 2009) at August 18, 2009 7:00 AM
Comments
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Posted by: M.G.Hamilton at August 18, 2009 7:49 AM
Wowser!!
Posted by: Meg Bernstein at August 18, 2009 7:57 AM
Gorgeous! These daily photos are such a treat and the information is so enlightening. thank you.
Posted by: chico at August 18, 2009 8:42 AM
MG - your question about "where is the chlorophyll?" is often asked when leaves have other colors like red or purple. The green part is simply over shadowed by the more dominant anthocyanins and other pigments. The one leaf here does have a blue tint, but the darkest colors are of unopened flowers.
This IS an incredible photo - thank you so much!!!
Posted by: Vicki at August 18, 2009 8:50 AM
Gracias Uncle Pedro for a most impressive photograph.
Posted by: annie morgan at August 18, 2009 9:25 AM
WOW! Amazing plant. The flowers and leaves are all astonishingly beautiful. Thanks so much for posting this.
Posted by: Cheryl Herries at August 18, 2009 10:08 AM
This one's really gorgeous. Thanks!
In my experience, a blue leaf color is not due to pigments, but to optical effects created by a thick cuticle on the epidermis. What I don't know is whether it's an incidental effect of refraction, like the sky, or a microscale pattern, like the blue on birds' feathers. The latter would imply an adaptive value to the color, so I'm skeptical -- but wouldn't that be neat?
Posted by: Jinian at August 18, 2009 10:30 AM
I remember doing experiments in high school biology class where we crushed leaves of different colors into a solvent then did paper chromatagraphs to see the green pigment rise up on the chromatagraph paper separate from what other color/colors were were masking it. Multicolored coleus leaves had lovely chromatagraphs.
Posted by: AdoAnnie at August 18, 2009 10:38 AM
Are there any words!
: O
Posted by: The Hollyberry Lady at August 18, 2009 11:46 AM
Is there a common name for this lovely beastie?
Posted by: Eric Simpson at August 18, 2009 1:34 PM
my we are a love are we not
have not found a common name as yet
have you been reading about the giant rat eating
nepenthes plant nepenthes attenboroughi
wonderful pictures great reading
thank you uncle pedro
Posted by: elizabeth a airhart at August 18, 2009 3:11 PM
Absolutely gorgeous! Is this anything that would make its way into a cultivated garden? Or is it one of those wild lovelies we have to make a pilgrimage to see? Thanks, Uncle Pedro.
Posted by: Susan Gustavson at August 18, 2009 4:40 PM
Many Daviesia species go by the common name, "Bitter-Pea," but a quick scan of the scant literature reveals no obvious common names for this species. A direct Latin translation yields:
"Lozenge-leaved Bitter-pea."
Posted by: Dennis at August 18, 2009 6:10 PM
Oh, and I really like the composition of this photo! The unopened buds remind me of the classic stroboscopic photo of a bouncing ball.
Posted by: Dennis at August 18, 2009 6:18 PM
Wow! Stunning!
Posted by: Mary Ann, in Toronto at August 18, 2009 10:13 PM
Truly beautiful.
Posted by: Tree Zed at August 19, 2009 4:52 AM
Too too good to be true!
Posted by: Nancy at August 19, 2009 1:16 PM
There are at least 18 species of Daviesia near my home town of Perth, Western Australia. Mt Dale is about 50km out. They are wonderfully diverse in appearance (all have similar pea flowers). There does not appear to be a common name for the D. rhombifolia (or many others of the family). I am lucky to be in an environment blessed with an amazing array of native flora (and fauna). Thanks Steve for posting my photo.
Posted by: UnclePedro at August 20, 2009 4:58 AM
Beautiful, I always like blooms that do the "fade" whhere they are dark in the center then gradually fade to a lighter color at the edges.
I like "Shire", it sounds much nicer that the equivalent in most US states: town, township, or borough.
Posted by: Denis at August 20, 2009 9:19 AM
Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!
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Botany Photo of the Day and associated images by UBC Botanical Garden staff are licensed under a Creative Commons License. Images and text by non-UBC contributors are copyright the respective photographers / authors (but often have Creative Commons licenses if contributed via Flickr).
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Botany Photo of the Day is a project of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, located in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. UBC BGCPR is a department of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems within The University of British Columbia.
Blue leaves? This must be very unusual.
Where is the chlorophyll?