Known by the common name Wittwer’s Mountain Bell, or Wittwers Darwinia, Darwinia wittwerorum is an erect shrub in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to a small area in Western Australia.
Darwinia wittwerorum is a spindly shrub, to one metre high, with fine, linear leaves, that are 5 to 10 mm long and are triangular in cross-section.
The bell shape of the flower comprises a cluster, usually of five to nine flowers that hang down and are enclosed by the colourful petal-like leaf bracts. The narrow outer bracts are cream and elliptic, the floral bracts are 18 to 21 mm long, and are rose pink and obovate.
Darwinia wittwerorum was declared as Rare Flora under the Western Australian Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 in 1982 and is currently ranked Endangered (EN) under World Conservation Union (IUCN 1994) Red List criterion B1+2de, due to fragmentation and limited geographic range. The species is listed as Endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).2
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Phylum: Charophyta
- Class: Equisetopsida
- Subclass: Magnoliidae
- Superorder: Rosanae
- Order: Myrtales
- Family: Myrtaceae
- Genus: Darwinia
- Species: Darwinia wittwerorum
Footnote & References
- Darwinia wittwerorum (Wittwers Darwinia), Stirling Range National Park WA © Terry Dunham
- Wittwer’s Mountain Bell (Darwinia wittwerorum) recovery plan, Threatened species & ecological communities, Government of Western Australia, Department of Environment and Conservation 2008, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/recovery-plans/wittwers-mountain-bell-darwinia-wittwerorum-recovery-plan
- Darwinia wittwerorum N.G.Marchant & Keighery, Wittwer’s Mountain Bell, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://id.biodiversity.org.au/node/apni/2904703
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