| Hovea elliptica | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Genus: | Hovea |
| Species: | H. elliptica |
| Binomial name | |
| Hovea elliptica (Sm.) DC. | |
| Synonyms | |
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Hovea elliptica, commonly known as the tree hovea or karri blue bush, is an ornamental plant in the family Fabaceae that is native to Western Australia. This plant was cited as Hovea Celsi in Description des plantes rares cultivees a Malmaison et a Navarre by Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland.
Description
The erect and slender shrub or small tree typically grows to a height of 0.4 to 3 metres (1 to 10 ft). It is usually single stemmed and the young branches are covered in spreading often rust coloured hairs. The stipules are narrow triangular and around 1 millimetre (0.039 in) in length. The alternately arranged leaves have an elliptical blade to around 7.5 centimetres (3.0 in) in length. The species has purple or blue flowers that appear between August and December in its native range. The pea shaped flowers are arranged in short clusters among the leaf axils. The axillary inflorescences contain one to seven flowers. The seed pods that form later are ovoid to ellipsoid in shape and are 0.8 to 1.2 cm (0.31 to 0.47 in) in length and 0.8 to 1.3 cm (0.31 to 0.51 in) wide. The olive brown seeds within have an elliptic shape and 3.8 to 5.1 mm (0.15 to 0.20 in) in length and 2.8 to 3.1 mm (0.11 to 0.12 in) wide.
Taxonomy
The species was first formally in 1808 as Poiretia elliptica by James Edward Smith in the Transactions of the Linnean Society of London from specimens collected from King George's Sound by Archibald Menzies. It was later transferred to the genus Hovea in 1825 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in his Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis.
Distribution
It occurs on sand dunes, slopes ridges and granite outcrops in the South West and Great Southern regions of Western Australia where it grows in clay, loamy, sandy and gravelly lateritic soils often rich in organic matter. Usually part of the understorey in jarrah, marri and karri forest communities and is often associated with Bossiaea aquifolium subsp. laidlawiana and Hovea chorizemifolia.
Use in horticulture
It is sold commercially as seedlings or in seed form, the seeds germinate readily but it may help to scarify or pre-treat with boiling water. The plant prefers well-drained soils and an open sunny or partly shaded position. It is drought tolerant but frost tender.
References
- ^ "Hovea elliptica". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- ^ "Hovea elliptica". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ "Karri Blue Bush (Hovea elliptica)". Gardenworld. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ Ross, James Henderson (1989). "Notes on Hovea R.Br. (Fabaceae):2". Muelleria. 7 (1): 27–29. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- ^ "Hovea elliptica". Australian Seed. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- "Poiretia elliptica". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- Smith, James Edward (1808). "Characters of Platylobium, Bossiaea and of a new Genus named Poiretia". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 9: 305–306. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- "Hovea elliptica". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- Bonpland, A. J. A. (1813). Description des plantes rares cultivees a Malmaison et a Navarre.
- Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
- Rowan, E. (c. 1906). Flower and bird paintings. National Library of Australia.
External links
| Taxon identifiers | |
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| Hovea elliptica |
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