Grevillea sparsiflora

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Grevillea sparsiflora, commonly known as sparse flowered grevillea, is a flowering plant native to southern Western Australia. It is a low, spreading shrub about 0.3–1.5 meters tall. The leaves are crowded, narrow and linear, 10–60 mm long and 0.7–2.1 mm wide; when new they are whitish and silky, with edges curled under so the lower surface is mostly hidden except for the central vein. Flowers are pinkish-red and appear singly or in groups of up to five; they have a pinkish-orange style with a green tip, and the pistil is 17.5–25 mm long. The plant mainly flowers from June to November. The fruit is an erect, elliptical follicle about 12–16 mm long. It is similar to Grevillea decipiens (which has 7–9 ridges on the top of the leaf and densely silky brown hairs outside) and Grevillea pauciflora (which has a shorter style). It was first described by Ferdinand von Mueller in 1868 from specimens collected at Cape Arid by George Maxwell. Grevillea sparsiflora grows in southern Western Australia from Mount Ragged near Esperance to Twilight Cove, in the Coolgardie, Hampton and Mallee bioregions. It prefers sand dunes, limestone cliffs, and eucalypt woodlands in sandy or loamy soils.