Verticordia grandis

The species has been used as the source of cut flowers and as a garden plant. Overpicking and increased demand have prompted study of techniques for its commercial production. Successful research has been undertaken into micropropagation, by means of genetic transformation, for commercial production to supply the floristry industry. This was the first time that a species of family Myrtaceae has been genetically engineered. The publication of papers and reference to the species has steadily increased since the 1990s. Floristry The large and bright red flowers of Verticordia grandis have been admired and harvested since its first discovery by Europeans, when Drummond noted its use as an adornment by the people of the region. He described in his first report as the "most beautiful of Australian plants". The cut flower has a vase life of less than 10 days, shorter that other harvested verticordia, and is unresponsive to treatments that extend this period. A technique for extending this is required for viability as an exported commodity. The dried specimens of freshly opened flowers are less brittle and long lasting in ornamental displays. Until a prohibition on unlicensed collection, the species was harvested by sometimes careless pickers; the floral industry is now supplied by professional pickers or growers. The development of micropropagation for the plant is expected after its successful genetic transformation in 1993, this was achieved using meristematic cells that were found to be present in the leaves. Horticulture The species has been successfully cultivated as an ornamental plant in suburban environments. It is sometimes grown from seed, in mediterranean climates, or hardwood cuttings are used in grafts with more resilient species. This has been trialled with Darwinia citriodora and Chamelaucium uncinatum (Geraldton wax) supplying the rootstock. The botanical illustrator, Margaret Pieroni, used a 10-year-old specimen from her garden for the plate in Curtis's Botanical Magazine. The cultivated specimens of this plant do not attain the height of endemic examples, typically growing between 1 and 2 metres, and may be slow to establish. Pruning is applied to induce a bushy habit, desirable for neatness and blooming, and this is done severely when the plant is mature. Maintenance of the plant is required to reduce the tendency to become straggly by pruning to new wood. Verticordia are difficult to cultivate in moister environments, but success has been achieved with V. grandis (in Sydney) by using free draining soil in an open situation. Dried specimen collected near Eneabba V. grandis and other Verticordia species, painting by Ellis Rowan V. grandis flower detail

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The resilient root system of the species, particularly with regard to fire and soil disturbance, allows the plant to attain ages of up to 100 years. The possession of a lignotuber, one of the few in the genus so endowed, allows the plant to regenerate within a month of a bushfire. The pollination of Verticordia is poorly understood, although V. grandis, and other red-flowered species are known to be naturally pollinated by birds such as honeyeaters. Records of the species attracted to cultivated plants, when it has been grown locally, include the singing, little brown or New Holland honeyeaters, and the western spinebill.

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Discovery and naming The type collection for Verticordia grandis is the one obtained by James Drummond, sometime between 1849 and 1850, on his last expedition to Champion Bay. Drummond was collecting seed and specimens for the gardens of England and Europe, the colony's first resident botanical collector, and became so enthused by the appearance of the flowers that he filled his bags with them. His response is noted in the memoirs of Dr William Harvey. After preparing his specimens, and having overeagerly collected, Drummond made a bed of the surplus, feathery, material. The species was described in a letter by Drummond, written to and published by William Jackson Hooker, which was sufficient to give him credit as its author. Hookers publication of Drummond's description, in his Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany (1853), was preceded by The Perth Gazette in 1852. The same newspaper printed a mention of the species, also by Drummond, in 1851. When Alex George reviewed the genus Verticordia in 1991, he placed this species in subgenus Eperephes, section Pennuligera along with V. comosa, V. lepidophylla, V. chrysostachys,V. aereiflora, V. dichroma, V. x eurardyensis, V. muelleriana, V. argentea, V. albida, V. fragrans, V. venusta, V. forrestii, V. serotina, V. oculata and V. etheliana. The specific epithet (grandis) is a Latin word meaning "large", "great" or "grand", referring to the size of the plant, its leaves and flowers. The leaves of plants in section Pennuligera are often described as the round or lettuce-leaved species; V. grandis has stem and floral leaves that embrace the stem at their base, and spread out to their diameter of 8–15 mm. The roundish shape of the leaf is highlighted by margins that are lighter in colour.

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