''Pimelea bracteata'', is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to the south-west of New South Wales. It is a shrub with narrowly egg-shaped to elliptic leaves and pendulous, pale green heads of pale yellow flowers.

Description

''Pimelea bracteata'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of and has glabrous stems. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, narrowly egg-shaped or narrowly lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, to elliptic, long and wide on a short petiole. The leaves are glabrous, the upper surface sometimes purplish and the lower surface a paler shade of green. The flowers are borne in pendulous heads 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 with 6 or 8 broadly elliptic, pale green

involucral bracts 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, ...

long and wide surrounding a large number of pale yellow flowers. The sepals are long and the

stamen 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 filame ...

s are about the same length as the sepals. Flowering occurs from November to February.

Taxonomy

This pimealea was first formally described in 1902 by Joseph Maiden and Ernst Betche who gave it the name ''Pimelea ligustrina'' var. ''glabra'' in the ''

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales The Linnean Society of New South Wales promotes ''the Cultivation and Study of the Science of Natural History in all its Branches'' and was founded in Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) in 1874 and incorporated in 1884. History The Society succ ...

''. In 1983

S. Threlfall S is the nineteenth letter of the English alphabet. S may also refer to: History * an Anglo-Saxon charter's number in Peter Sawyer's, catalogue Language and linguistics * Long s (ſ), a form of the lower-case letter s formerly used where "s ...

raised the variety to ''Pimelea bracteata'' in the journal '' Brunonia''. 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 ...

(''bracteata'') means " bracteate".

Distribution and habitat

''Pimelea bracteata'' grows along watercourses and in damp places at altitudes above near Kiandra in the

Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range cordillera system ...

of New South Wales.

Conservation status

''Pimelea bracteata'' is listed as "critically endangered" under the Australian Government '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' and the New South Wales Government '' Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016''. The main threats to the species are disease and habitat fragmentation caused by '' Phytophthora'' infection, and the drying of the local environment.

References

{{Taxonbar, from= Q17581875 bracteata Flora of New South Wales Malvales of Australia Plants described in 1902 Taxa named by Carl Meissner Taxa named by Joseph Maiden Taxa named by Ernst Betche