Verticordia serrata       0

It is a dwarf to small, upright shrub lacking a lignotuber (0.4-1.2m x 0.3-0.7m). The stems are solitary or a few, slightly to moderately branched. The branchlets are often with crowded leaves.

The stem leaves are 0.2-0.3cm x 0.1-0.2cm, obovate, spreading to ascending, crowded, pale to deep green. The margins are shortly fringed, apex blunt. The floral leaves are broader, not crowded.

The flowers are to about 0.8cm across, golden-yellow ageing to grayish, lowest on stalks to about 1.2cm long, upper on shorter stalks, produced in tight, terminal clusters, usually profuse and highly conspicuous, sweet honey fragrance. The bracteoles are not sharply pointed, persistent. The floral tube is very short, warty, glabrous. The sepals are about 0.3cm long, spreading, usually 6-8-lobed, fringed. The petals are to about 0.3cm long, obovate to somewhat cuneate, spreading to erect, upper margin fringed. The stamens are to about 0.4cm long, more or less erect, exserted. The style is to about 0.4cm long, straight, glabrous.

Pruning during and immediately after flowering can promote bushy growth. It is suitable for containers, rockeries and freely draining sites.

References
- Encyclopedia of Australian Plants, Elliot W. Rodger & Jones David L. 2012 Vol. 9 pag. 431. ISBN

- Encyclopedia of Australian Plants, Elliot W. Rodger & Jones David L. 2012 pag. 394-398. ISBN
- New taxa, combinations and typiflcations in VerHcordia (Myrtaceae: Chamelaucieae). Nuytsia 1991 Vol. 7(3) pag. 231-394. Address
- The genus Verticordia (Myrtaceae) in Northern Australia, N. B. Byrnes. Austrobaileya 1977 Vol. 1(1) pag. 47-48. JStor
- Two new taxa of Verticordia (Myrtaceae: Chamelaucieae) from south-western Australia, Alex S. George and Matthew D. Barrett. Nuytsia 2010 Vol. 20 pag. 309-318. Link
- How to grow Bottle Brushes. Australian Plants 1960 Vol. 1(3). Address

Biological type: shrub
Frost resistance: 19ºF
Leaf color: dark green
Flower color: yellow
Reproduction mode: hermaphrodite plant whoes flowers produce both male and female gametes

Specifications for the Mediterranean basin
Adult size (h x w): 3,2ft x 2,2ft
Sun exposure: full sun (Sun hours: >6h
Foliage: evergreen
Growth: slow
Flowering time from March until July

Specific information for our garden
Planting substrate: 30%Compost+30%Coco+40%Sand
Plant watering: 3x a week pH 5.5
Logical sequence of containers for: Eucalyptus; forestry plate 8cm, forestry pot 3L, Airpot 12L, Airpot 50L, Airpot 800L
Propagation is done by cuttings

Ecology in its country of origin
Rainfall: 400-900mm
Gravelly soil: much
Clay soil: much
Sandy soil: much
Acidic soil: much
Draining soil: much
Ornemental: a little

AUTUMN Clean to pure seeds. Soak the seeds in ambient water for 24h with a SmokeDisk. Sow the seeds on the surface of Well Drained Seed Sowing Mix at >77°F. During germination keep the substrate moist and in daylight. The seeds germinate in 52 weeks. The results are erratic. The viability of the seeds, kept under good conditions, is 3 years.

Germination references
- Seeds: Ecology, Biogeography, and, Evolution of Dormancy and Germination, Baskin, Carol & Baskin, J.M. 2014 pag. 1-1586. DOI


Germination references for the genus
- How to grow Bottle Brushes. Australian Plants 1960 Vol. 1(3). Address
- Restoration of habitat, Propagation of difficult plants, Dennis Cooper. Australian Plants 1999 Vol. 120(160) pag. 174-75. Address
- Variation in seed production and germination in 22 rare and threatened Western Australian Verticordia (Myrtaceae), Cochrane, A and Brown, K and Cunneen, S and Kelly, A. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 2001 Vol. 84 pag. 103. Address
- Verticordia Study Group, Association of societies for growing Australian plants. 1988 Vol. 10. Address