Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Hibbertia stricta
Common name
A guinea flower
Family
Dilleniaceae
Where found
Dry forest, woodland, and heath.
subsp. furcatulata: Two populations, one on the southern outskirts of Sydney, and one near Nowra
subsp. stricta: Specimens examined for the description of Hibbertia stricta subsp. stricta originated in coastal areas between Sydney and Ulladulla.
On 13 September, 2017, plants previously included in Hibbertia riparia in the ACT were transferred to Hibbertia stricta, pending determination of their status by Dr Toelken.
Notes
Shrub to 1.3 m high. Stems wiry becoming stiff, leaf bases continuing down the stems, often becoming flanged, hairy, rarely sparsely hairy, with stalked stellate hairs (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see). Leaves alternating up the stems, sometimes appearing somewhat whorled, 0.23-2.35 cm long, less than 1 mm wide, stellate hairy to hairless, margins rolled down, the central vein of the lower surface bulging and often overtopping the scarcely narrower rolled down margins. Flowers with 5 yellow petals each 4.5-7.3 mm long. Stamens 6-8, on one side of the carpels. Carpels 2, hairy. Calyx lobes hairy outside with wart-based stalked stellate hairs, rarely almost hairless, outer calyx lobes with a ridge down the centre, at least on the upper half. Several bracts below the flowers, merging into the leaves below. Flowers stalkless, single, at the tips of the stems and at the bases of the leaves. Flowers September to February.
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
subsp. furcatula: Leaves with fine stellate hairs (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see), usually 2-armed or rarely 3-armed, arms about 0.2 mm long, without warty bases, along the centre of the upper surface, persistent. A distinct gap showing the hairy leaf undersurface between the rolled down margins and the central vein.
Endangered NSW. Provisions of the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 No 63 relating to the protection of protected plants generally also apply to plants that are a threatened species.
NSW Threatened Species profile: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedSpeciesApp/profile.aspx?id=20078 (accessed 6 January, 2021)
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=in&name=Hibbertia~stricta+subsp.~furcatula (accessed 6 January, 2021)
subsp. stricta: Leaves with coarse, wart based stellate hairs (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see), usually with 3-5 arms, arms up to 0.1 mm long, along the centre of the upper surface, wearing off early. Rolled down margins touching the often bulging central vein, the leaf undersurface not visible between them.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=in&name=Hibbertia~stricta+subsp.~stricta (accessed 6 January, 2021)
Description mainly based on: Toelken, H.R. & Miller, R.T. (2012), Notes on Hibbertia (Dilleniaceae) 8. Seven new species, a new combination and four new subspecies from subgen. Hemistemma, mainly from the central coast of New South Wales. Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens 25: 90-93
ACT. Hibbertia stricta seems have a much more restricted distribution than Hibbertia calycina and is only associated with open forest on skeletal soils; of the three locations where Rosemary has now seen it, the forest has been dominated by Eucalyptus macrorhyncha +/- Eucalyptus rossii in two locations, and by Callitris endlicheri in the third location. It’s a much larger plant than Hibbertia calycina (more shrub-like, and can be to about 0.5 m tall) with very tangled branching. The calyx is covered in small stalked stellate hairs and lacks any simple hairs. The midrib on the lower leaf surface bulges above the curved down leaf margins (the midrib is very rounded in transverse section, not flattish the way Hibbertia calycina is). The photos at https://canberra.naturemapr.org/Community/Sighting/4184542 give a good idea of both the look of the plant and habitat. (Personal communication from Rosemary Purdie, 13 January 2019. She used a binocular microscope for looking at the sepals. A macro app on a phone/tablet might manage)
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