#guichenotia

Guichenotia macrantha

This is an example of a plant in the Malvaceae (the Mallow Family, or Hibiscus Family) native to Australia. Like so many of the Australian plants we grow at the Ruth Bancroft Garden, it comes from the winter-rainfall region in Western Australia (in this case, to the north and east of Perth). Its fuzzy cut-leaf foliage and delicate lavender-pink lantern-like flowers make it a delightful garden subject.

Described in 1821 by Jaques Étienne Gay in Mémoires du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, and named after Antoine Guichenot, the gardener's boy on the 1801–1803 French scientific voyage to Australia under Nicolas Baudin.

Found in a band across the SW from Esperance to Geraldton, growing in sand and laterite on sandplains, rocky hills and granite outcrops.

All 17 Guichenotia are endemic to WA. There's at least 5 species around Wongan - I'm pretty sure I have the right ID on this one, comparing the leaf size, hairiness and shape to that of the flowers.

Guichenotia macrantha

This delightful shrub has narrow needle-like leaves and makes a wonderful winter display of pale lavender flowers. It belongs to the Malvaceae, or Mallow Family, and it comes from north and east of Perth, in Western Australia.

Guichenotia macrantha

This shrub from Western Australia is relatively new to us at the Ruth Bancroft Garden. It is a drought-tolerant member of the Malvaceae (the Malva or Hibiscus Family) with plae lavender bell-like flowers and very narrow leaves, So far it has performed amazingly well, enduring our extreme wet “atmospheric river” in January, followed by several bouts of freezing since then.

photo by Bob Goodale.

Another species of Guichenotia from the Wongan Wildflower Walk!

'Sarotes' is maybe derived from Cisoria which is Latin for a pair of scissors or Kikhṓrion / Cichoria, the Greek and Latin for Chichory. Neither etymology makes much sense, applied to this shrub or the related mallow Thomasia sarotes. Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings apparently says it means 'broom-like', but that's a bit of a stretch too unless it's refering to the spindly growth form. The original botanists are all long dead so we can't ask them. Given it's also been known as Sarotes ledifolia, and Thomasia pumila, doesn't help.

Found in a long diagonal band across SW Australia, growing in sandy, clay, loam & gravel soils, and around laterite, granite, and ironstone.

A couple more plants from last year's BioBlitz in Wongan Hills, that I'd managed to misidentify. The photo above, for example, I'd originally thought was the small-flowered Guichenotia micrantha. I've changed the photo on the post about that species.

'impudica' means 'shameless' but I don't know why this species is considered less bashful than the others.

G. impudica is a dwarf shrub with hairy new growth, found growing in laterite around Wongan Hills (although in this case it was in sand, which is puzzling), and a few locations nearer Geraldton.