''Lasiopetalum monticola'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, slender or straggling shrub with densely hairy branchlets, leaves and flowers, egg-shaped leaves and pink, cream-coloured or white flowers.

Description

''Lasiopetalum monticola'' is an erect, slender or straggling shrub that typically grows to a height of , its branches, leaves and flowers densely covered with white or rust-coloured, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are borne in

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s of three to fifteen long, each raceme on a

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

long, each flower on a pedicel long with linear

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s about long at the base and three bracteoles long below the base of the sepals. The sepals are pink, cream-coloured or white, narrowly egg-shaped and long. The petals are oblong, about long, the

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

more or less sessile. Flowering occurs from August to October.

Taxonomy

''Lasiopetalum monticola'' was first formally described in 1974 by Susan Paust in the journal '' Nuytsia'' from specimens collected from Ellen Peak in the

Stirling Range The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranb ...

by Alexander Morrison in 1902. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''monticola'') means "a dweller in mountains".

Distribution and habitat

This lasiopetalum grows on steep slopes and gullies on rocky soil in the Stirling Range and on East Mount Barren in the Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Lasiopetalum monticola'' is listed as " Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17580146 monticola Malvales of Australia Rosids of Western Australia Plants described in 1974