Verticordia nitens, commonly known as Christmas Morrison and other names, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.

"[9] When Alex George reviewed the genus in 1991, he revived Lindley's epithet and placed this species in subgenus Chrysoma, section Chrysorhoe along with V. aurea and V.

[2]: 166 Verticordia nitens occurs as far north as Moore River, and as far south as Yarloop in the Avon Wheatbelt and Swan Coastal Plain biogeographic regions although it does not reach as far as Harvey.

It grows in sand, usually in Banksia woodland and often occurs with Nuytsia floribunda, the Western Australian Christmas Tree, both species having flowers of a "brilliant orange colour".

These later figures show a reduction after closer scrutiny of harvests, though much was obtained from private land, leading to increased sustainability when combined with greater care by pickers.

[2]: 28 The shrub is listed for it susceptibility to Phytophthora cinnamomi, and as an 'indicator species' it is used to detect its presence in banksia woodland, though without observations of its ability to recover.

The species was mentioned in the early survey, A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony (Edwards's Botanical Register, 1837), which was referred to an 1861 notice in Curtis's Botanical Magazine by W J Hooker, quoting Lindley,[16] "'the magnificent Chrysorrhoë nitens, whose yellow flowers, of metallic lustre, form masses of golden stars some feet in diameter.'

The Veitch Nurseries successfully raised a plant, providing the flowering specimen in August for the illustration by Walter Fitch, but a note in Hortus Veitchii (1906) records the disappointing results and as "apparently lost to British gardens".

Later cultivation techniques made use of cuttings from lower parts of the plant, propagated from soft to semi-hardened wood, to produce longer living specimens.

Controls include pruning below sites of infestation, which often appear near the growing tip, results in bushier and more resilient plants for gardens,[19] and study groups have trialled the removal of flowers after downpours.

[2]: 8 > Meares' request from James Mangles was to deliver material for the cultivation of "Chrysorhoe nitens" in England, and unable to recall this name he applied that of the collector as a label.

Until this fact was noticed by the historian Rica Erickson, the common name was presumed to commemorate Alexander Morrison, the government botanist at the colony.

Besides the illustration given to every taxon's description in Elizabeth George's book on the genus by Margaret Pieroni, this species was selected with the 200 plants she painted for Discovering Wildflowers of Western Australia in 1983.

[2]: 65 Verticordia nitens is commonly dried or preserved, with uses in a variety of arts and crafts, their exquisite arrangement of flowers and leaves being set in resin, as topiary trees, or decoration of cake.

Another technique applied to V. nitens involves steeping cuttings in glycerine and hot water before drying, this affects colour but avoids flowers and leaves becoming brittle.