#dampiera

Dampiera stenophylla

18-SEP-2025

Photo by Chris Punter.

Described by Ferdinand von Mueller first described the plant in 1876. Named after English explorer William Dampier (1652-1715) who first collected it, and Julia Wells (1842-1911), who collected botanical specimens in the Western Wheatbelt.

Endemic to the wheatbelt, and one of about 70 Dampiera species.

Scientific Name: Dampiera diversifolia

Meaning

-Dampiera after William Dampier (1652-1715)

-Diversifolia: Leaves of more than one kind

William Dampier collected Australian plants that are still preserved in Oxford at the British Museum

Basic Facts

1. Indigenous to the southwest of Western Australia

2. It is a spring wildflower

3. It is a prostrate perennial or undershrub (type of bush)

4. It ranges anywhere from 25 centimeters (9.84 inches) to 1 meter (3.28 feet)

5. It is a short, dense, and leafy plant with purple-blue flowers

Why is Dampiera Diversifolia different from other Dampiera?

-Short axillary penduncles (short stalks from which the flower grows)

-1-2 leaves and a pair of bracteoles per each flower

-The leaves vary from oblong-spathulate (imagine a kite with rounded sides) to oblanceolate (imagine the body of a minnow) that don’t tend to get bigger than 2.5 centimeters (0.98 inches)

Survival

-Resists frosts well

-Wide range of conditions

-Best: Well-drained site, protection from wind, protection from the invasion of other species

-If grown from cuttings, it will take roughly 12 months to establish itself

-Spreads quickly after being established

-Thrives in good, friable soil (crumbly texture)

-A general fertilizer in the spring and autumn should prevent total death of the plant

Have questions, need more explanation, or want another topic? Reply below!

Dampiera fasciculata

05-SEP-2025

Observation by @gemfyre.

The small furry leaves of Dampiera lavandulacea are an adaptation against drought, but lindleyi takes it further and gets rid of leaves entirely.

Endemic to a narrow strip from Kalbarri to Albany.

First formally described in 1839 by John Lindley and named for the resemblance to Lavender.

Another Dampiera, widespread in south-western Western Australia from coastal areas to the Eastern Goldfields on sand in heath and woodland.