Hovea trispermaCommon name: Common Hovea
Meaning of name: Hovea honours Anton Pantaleon Hove, collector of plants for Kew on the West African coast, in the Crimea and India. Trisperma is from the Greek words treis, meaning three, and sperma, meaning seed. It refers to the 3-celled ovary, in contrast with the more usual 2- or 4-celled ovaries in this genus.
Distribution: Occurs from Geraldton to Bremer Bay.
Remarks: A shrub to 70 centimetres tall. The blue to purple (occasionally white) flowers are produced from June to September.
Associations: Species of Hovea are the food plant for the caterpillar of Uresiphita ornithopteralis.
References: Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings, a Glossary. FA Sharr. 1996.
Flora of the Perth Region. NG Marchant, JR Wheeler, BL Rye, EM Bennett, NS Lander, TD Macfarlane. 1987.
http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/pyru/ornith.html
This caterpillar eats the leaves of Hovea species.
A white flowering form of Hovea trisperma.
