''Pimelea decora'', commonly known as Flanders poppy, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Thymelaeaceae The Thymelaeaceae are a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants composed of 50 genera (listed below) and 898 species.Zachary S. Rogers (2009 onwards)A World Checklist of Thymelaeaceae (version 1) Missouri Botanical Garden Website, St. Louis. It ...

and is native to central Queensland. It is a woody

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

with egg-shaped or elliptic leaves and hairy, red and cream-coloured flowers.

Description

''Pimelea decora'' is a woody, perennial that typically grows to a height of with many stems at the base. The leaves are usually arranged in opposite pairs, usually egg-shaped or elliptic, long, wide and

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...

. The flowers are arranged in clusters on a rachis usually long with 5 to 8 hairy involucral bracts but that fall off as the flowers open. The flowers are densely hairy, and red with a cream-coloured base, the floral tube long. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s 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 much longer than the sepals. Flowering occurs throughout the year.

Taxonomy

''Pimelea decora '' was first formally described in 1928 by Karel Domin in his ''Bibliotheca Botanica'', from specimens he collected near Hughenden in 1910. 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 ...

(''decora'') means "beautiful".

Distribution and habitat

Flanders poppy grows in grassland, often in rocky soil and is found in central Queensland, mainly south-east of Hughenden. Domin noted that the species is very poisonous to livestock.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21306552 decora Flora of Queensland Malvales of Australia Plants described in 1928 Taxa named by Karel Domin