Description
The growth habit of Adenanthos obovatus is that of a lignotuberous shrub, with many stems arising from a single underground lignotuber. It typically reaches about 1 m (3 ft) in height, and about 1.5 m (5 ft) in width, but plants occasionally reach a height of 2 m (7 ft).
The leaves of this species are bright green, oval in shape, up to 20 mm (0.8 in) long and 15 mm (0.6 in) wide, sessile, and arranged in a spiral pattern on the branches. The flowers appear steadily between April and December, and are most frequent between August and October. They are red or orange, and emerge from the leaf axils. They are usually solitary, but occasionally an axil will carry two flowers. As with other Proteaceae species, each flower consists of a perianth of four united tepals, and a single style. In A. obovatus, the perianth is around 25 mm (1 in) long, and the style around 40 mm (1.6 in). Although the flowering period is lengthy (six months), there are generally only a few flowers at any one time, and a seven-year study at Harry Waring Marsupial Reserve south of Perth revealed fairly constant flowering from year to year, even when shrubs were cut back to ground level to simulate a bushfire.
The species is very similar to A. barbiger. There are obvious differences in typical leaf shape, with leaves of most populations of A. barbiger being very much longer and narrower than those of A. obovatus. However, leaf shape is variable in both species, and some southern populations of A. barbiger have leaves that are indistinguishable from those of A. obovatus. The most systematically important properties by which the two may be distinguished are the shape of the perianth limb, which is rounded in A. obovatus and pointed in A. barbiger; the bracts, glabrous versus hirsute; and the style-ends, which are green and scarlet respectively. The species also differ slightly in range of flower colours: A. barbiger has scarlet to bright red flowers, whereas A. obovatus flowers are scarlet to orange.
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