Creeping Grevillea

Prostrate, often mat-forming shrub, to 3 m across. Leaves narrowly oblong to ovate or elliptic, 1.5-11.5 cm long, 10-40 mm wide, usually serrate-dentate or shallowly pinnatifid, or rarely a few leaves entire; primary teeth or lobes 5-19 (-25), spaced ±evenly around margins, to 3 mm long, sometimes with a secondary tooth on distal margin, sometimes pungent; margins shortly recurved; lower surface with an open indumentum of appressed wavy hairs, rarely glabrous. Unit conflorescence erect to decurved, secund; floral rachis 35-80 mm long. Flower colour: perianth light green or grey with reddish striations; style deep burgundy red or rarely dull pink or orange to yellow, with a green tip. Perianth subsericeous with biramous hairs outside, sometimes also with erect simple glandular hairs. Pistil 16-19 mm long; stipe 1.8-2.7 mm long; style glabrous. Follicle 10-12 mm long, sericeous.

Flowers Oct.-Apr.

Occurs in Vic., as two discrete populations: the West Healesville area 50 km NNE to ENE of Melbourne, and the Daylesford area c. 100 km WNW of Melbourne.

Grows in montane dry eucalypt forests in well-drained situations in clayey and loamy soils.

This species is recognised as 'Rare' in J.D.Briggs & J.H.Leigh, Rare or Threatened Australian Plants (1995).

Vic.: near Melbourne ... above road from Dixons Ck to Kinglake East, A.C.Beauglehole 36729 (MEL, NSW); Ballarat Study Area, Pinchgut Rd, c. 24 km ENE of Ballarat P.O., A.C.Beauglehole 61742 (MEL, NSW); sources of the Campaspe R., Apr., [18]87, R.Dickinson (MEL); 1.6-3.2 km S of Mt Slide, L.H.Williams 945 (NSW); about half way between Daylesford and Musk, 4 Dec. 1936, J.H.Willis (MEL).

'ad Watts-river (J. Dallachi); similibus locis ad Loddan flumen.' [protologue]; Watts R., Vic., s.d. , J.Dallachy ; syn: MEL 98951 p.p. ; Loddon R., s.d. , Vic., coll. unknown ; syn: MEL 98951 p.p.

Occasionally confused with some leaf-forms of G. obtecta , q.v. for differences. The population roughly NE of Melbourne is often known as the 'Mount Slide form' for a known locality. It has leaf-bases usually truncate or almost so or sometimes broadly cuneate; floral bracts 0.4-0.8 mm wide; and pedicels and perianth often (but not always) with an open indumentum of minute erect glandular hairs in addition to the appressed biramous hairs. The population roughly NW of Melbourne, the 'Daylesford form', has leaf bases usually broadly cuneate (wedge-shaped), floral bracts 1.0-2.2 mm wide, and pedicels and perianth with appressed biramous hairs only. The type sheet is made up of two fragmentary syntype collections, the fragments representing both forms of the species.

W.R.Elliot & D.L.Jones, Encycl. Austral. Pl. 5: 102 (1990), as Grevillea repens 'Sailor's Falls'; P.M.Olde & N.R.Marriott, Grevillea Book 3: 135 (bottom right), 136 (107A, B) (1995).

Data derived from Flora of Australia Volumes 16 (1995), 17A (2000) and 17B (1999), products of ABRS, ©Commonwealth of Australia