Pimelea leptospermoides explained

Pimelea leptospermoides, commonly known as serpentine rice flower,^[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is a shrub with narrowly egg-shaped to elliptic leaves and white, tube-shaped flowers arranged in groups of up to 7.

Description

Pimelea leptospermoides is a shrub that typically grows to a height of and has hairy young stems. The leaves are narrowly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, to elliptic, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged singly or in small groups in leaf axils on a densely hairy rachis long. The flowers are white, the floral tube long, the sepals long, the style shorter than the floral tube. Flowering occurs from May to October.^{[2] [3]}

Taxonomy

Pimelea leptospermoides was first formally described in 1869 by Ferdinand von Mueller in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae from specimens collected near the Tropic of Capricorn by Anthelme Thozet.^{[4] [5]}

In 2017, Anthony Bean described two subspecies of P. leptospermoides and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

• Pimelea leptospermoides subsp. bowmanii (F.Muell. ex Benth.) A.R.Bean, (previously known as Pimelea bowmanni F.Muell. ex Benth.)^[6] has densely hairy lower leaf surfaces, the hairs long, and the hairs on the floral tube long.
• Pimelea leptospermoides F.Muell.) subsp. leptospermoides^[7] has sparsely hairy lower leaf surfaces, the hairs long, and the hairs on the floral tube long.

Distribution and habitat

This pimelea grows on stony hillsides and in the understory of shrubby woodland, in serpentine soils from near Marlborough to near Rockhampton in north Queensland. Subspecies bowmanni is found west Canoona and subsp. leptospermoides between Canoona and Marlborough.

Conservation status

Pimelea leptospermoides is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and as "near threatened" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992.^{[8] [9]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: Species profile—Pimelea leptospermoides . Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science . 21 January 2023.
2. Web site: Rye . Barbara L. . Pimelea leptospermoides . Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 21 January 2023.
3. Bean . Anthony R. . A taxonomic revision of Pimelea section Epallage (Endl.) Benth. (Thymelaeaceae) in Queensland . Austrobaileya . 2017 . 10 . 1 . 23–25 . 21 January 2023.
4. Web site: Pimelea leptospermoides. APNI. 21 January 2023.
5. Book: von Mueller . Ferdinand . Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae . 7 . 1869 . Victorian Government Printer . Melbourne . 2 . 21 January 2023.
6. Web site: Pimelea leptospermoides subsp. bowmanii. Australian Plant Census. 21 January 2023.
7. Web site: Pimelea leptospermoides subsp. leptospermoides. Australian Plant Census. 21 January 2023.
8. Web site: Species profile—Pimelea leptospermoides . Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science . 21 January 2023.
9. Web site: Approved Conservation Advice for Pimelea leptospermoides . Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water . 21 January 2023.