''Pimelea fugiens'' 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 endemic to central Queensland. It is a shrub with elliptic leaves and heads of 12 to 18 pale yellow, tube-shaped flowers.
Description
''Pimelea fugiens'' is a
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 ...
shrub that typically grows to a height of and has sparsely hairy young stems. The leaves are arranged more or less in opposite pairs, elliptic, long and wide, on a
petiole long. The upper surface of the leaves is more or less
glabrous and the lower surface is sparsely hairy. The flowers are borne in leaf axils or on the ends of branches in heads of 12 to 18 on a densely hairy
rachis long, the
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
Pedicle or pedicel may refer to:
Human anatomy
*Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures
...
long. The
floral tube is long and pale yellow, 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 long and hairy on the outside. Flowering has been observed in April, May and October.
Taxonomy
''Pimelea fugiens '' was first formally described in 2017 by
Anthony Bean
Anthony Russell Bean (born 1957) is an Australian botanist who works at the Queensland Herbarium and Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha. Since 1982, he has led the Eucalyptus Study Group of the Society for Growing Australian Plants.
Care ...
in the journal ''
Austrobaileya'' from specimens he collected near
Thangool
Thangool is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Banana, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Thangool had a population of 741 people.
Geography
Thangool is north west of the state capital, ...
in 2009.
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 ...
(''fugiens'') means "avoiding" or "averse to", and refers to the observation that cattle avoid eating the plant, and that it is likely to be toxic.
Distribution and habitat
This pimelea is only known from two sites near
Biloela
Biloela ( ) is a rural town and locality in Shire of Banana, Central Queensland, Australia. It is situated inland from the port city of Gladstone at the junction of the Burnett and Dawson highways. Biloela is the administrative centre of Banan ...
, where it grows in dry gullies dominated by ''
Melaleuca bracteata''.
Conservation status
''Pimelea fugiens'' is listed as "critically endangered" under the Queensland Government ''
Nature Conservation Act 1992
The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota.
As originally published, it prov ...
''.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q65945521
fugiens
Flora of Queensland
Malvales of Australia
Plants described in 2017
Taxa named by Anthony Bean