''Pimelea brevifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an undershrub or shrub with erect, elliptic leaves, and heads of white flowers surrounded by four

involucral 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 ...

Description

''Pimelea brevifolia'' is an undershrub or shrub that typically grows to a height of . The leaves are erect, elliptic, long and wide and sessile or on a petiole up to long. The flowers are borne in 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 ...

mostly long and surrounded by four egg-shaped to broadly elliptic involucral bracts long and wide. The flowers are

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

or female, usually white and glabrous inside, the floral tube long. The sepals are egg-shaped, long, 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 shorter than the sepals and the style usually protrudes by up to long. Flowering occurs from July to October.

Taxonomy and naming

''Pimelea brevifolia'' was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in his book '' Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen''. 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 ...

(''brevifolia'') means "short-leaved". In 1988, Barbara Lynette Rye described two subspecies of ''P. brevifolia'' in the journal '' Nuytsia'', and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census: * ''Pimelea brevifolia'' R.Br. subsp. ''brevifolia'' has egg-shaped involucral bracts and long hairs on the

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

part of the floral tube. * ''Pimelea brevifolia'' subsp. ''modesta'' ( Meisn.) Rye, previously known as ''Pimelea modesta'' Meisn. has elliptic involucral bracts short hairs on the

part of the floral tube.

Distribution and habitat

Subspecies ''brevifolia'' grows in shrubland in sandy soil between

Lake Grace A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

, Albany and

Israelite Bay Israelite Bay is a bay and locality on the south coast of Western Australia. Situated in the Shire of Esperance local government area, it lies east of Esperance and the Cape Arid National Park, within the Nuytsland Nature Reserve and the Grea ...

in the Coolgardie, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Mallee bioregions, and subspecies ''modesta'' grows in sand between Wubin,

, Coolgardie and

Norseman The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...

in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, and Mallee bioregions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

Both subspecies of ''Pimelea brevifolia'' are listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Western Australian government The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state de ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q17581874, from2=Q51057153, from3=Q51057162 brevifolia Malvales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)