Petrophila
(from petros, a rock or stone, and phileo, to love; in allusion to the place of growth). ORD. Proteaceae. A genus comprising thirty-five species of Australian, greenhouse shrubs. Flowers usually white or yellow, in dense, terminal or rarely axillary spikes or cones; perianth tube slender, separating into four segments from the base, or remaining united, the limb of four linear laminae. Fruit a small, sometimes winged nut. Leaves scattered, rigid, entire or divided, frequently terete or narrow. It is doubtful if even the few species here described are still in cultivation. For culture, see Banksia. P. acicularis (needle-shaped).* fl. white, red; cones terminal and sessile, nearly globular, about 3/4in. in diameter. May. l. undivided, usually slender, terete, and more or less distinctly grooved on the upper side, obtuse, or with a short, straight, curved point. h. 2ft. 1830. (B. M. 3469.) P. glanduligera (gland-bearing). A synonym of P. Serruriae. P. heterophylla (variable-leaved). fl. white; cones all axillary, sessile, ovoid-oblong, the old ones 3/4in. long. June. l. linear or linear-lanceolate, 2in. to 4in. long, more or less flattened, entire and acute or dilated towards the end, and then often truncate or notched, with a small point in the notch, or deeply divided into two or three lobes. h. 4ft. 1840. P. pulchella (pretty). fl. white; cones terminal, sessile, solitary or with one or two axillary ones close below, oblong or cylindrical, 1in. to 1 1/2in. long. July. l. 1 1/2in. to 2 1/2in. long, twice or thrice pinnate; segments numerous, not spreading, terete, grooved above, rather slender, not pungent. h. 6ft. to 8ft. 1840. (B. M. 796, under name of Protea pulchella.) P. rigida (rigid). fl. white; perianth nearly 3/4in. long; cones terminal or in the forks of the branches, sessile, nearly globular. May. l. very rigid, trichotomously bipinnate; ultimate segments sometimes 1/2in. to 1in. long, all terete, divaricate, and pungent-pointed. h. 2ft. to 3ft. 1823. A rigid shrub. P. Serruriae (Serruria-like). fl. white; perianth tipped with small, stipitate glands; cones ovoid or at length conical, sessile or shortly pedunculate in the upper axils, often crowded in terminal clusters. May. l. rarely above 1in. long and broad, crowded, twice or thrice-pinnate, with the lower segments close to the base; segments numerous, slender, terete, grooved above. h. 3ft. to 4ft. 1840. SYN. P. glanduligera.