Scaevola canescens is a species of plant in the family Goodeniaceae. It is endemic to Western Australia where it occurs "from Shark Bay to Perth, in open forest and heath in sandy soil".[1]
Scaevola canescens (grey scaevola)[5] is a shrub growing up to 60 centimetres (24 in) high.[1] It has sessile, entire, oblong to oblanceolate leaves which are 12–85 millimetres (0.47–3.35 in) long and 4–15 millimetres (0.16–0.59 in) wide[1] and densely hairy.[5] It flowers from March to October[5] in axillary spikes up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long, the corolla is bearded, and white with brownish veins.[1] The fruit is usually one-seeded.[1]
It grows in the IBRA regions: Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain, and Yalgoo.
The specific epithet is Latin:
canescens,-entis (part.B): canescent, “grayish-white. A term applied to hairy surfaces” (Lindley[6]); “hoary with gray pubescence” (Fernald 1950[7]); becoming gray, grayish; in mosses, hoary due to the collective hyaline hair points on the apices of leaves.[8]
S. canescens was first described by George Bentham in 1837.[2] A holotype (W0047196) was collected by von Hügel at King Georges Sound, and is kept at Naturhistorisches Museum Wien Botanische Abteilung (W).[9] The earliest Australian record (MEL 1521288A) was collected by J.A.L. Preiss on April 15, 1839, somewhere in the vicinity of Perth.[10]
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) Scaevola canescens is a species of plant in the family Goodeniaceae. It is endemic to Western Australia where it occurs "from Shark Bay to Perth, in open forest and heath in sandy soil".
