''Pimelea leucantha'' 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 Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to near-coastal areas in the west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with linear to narrowly egg-shaped or narrowly elliptic leaves and clusters of white to pale yellow flowers surrounded by 4 or 6 egg-shaped involucral bracts.

Description

''Pimelea leucantha'' is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of and has a single stem at ground level. The leaves are mostly linear to narrowly egg-shaped or narrowly elliptic, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are white to pale yellow and arranged in clusters 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. There are 4 or 6 pale yellowish green, often pink-tinged, egg-shaped involucral bracts long and wide around the flower clusters, each flower on a hairy

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

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, the narrow section of the floral tube 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 usually shorter than the sepals. Flowering occurs from August to early November.

Taxonomy

''Pimelea leucantha'' was first formally described in 1904 by

Ludwig Diels Dr. Friedrich Ludwig Emil Diels (24 September 1874 – 30 November 1945) was a German botanist. Diels was born in Hamburg, the son of the classical scholar Hermann Alexander Diels. From 1900 to 1902 he traveled together with Ernst Georg Prit ...

in ''

Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie This is a list of academic journals, monographic series, and other serials published by E. Schweizerbart. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N P Q R S T U V W Z {{columns-list, colwidth=30em, *''Zeitschrift d ...

''. 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 ...

(''leucantha'') means "white-flowered".

Distribution and habitat

This pimelea grows in deep sand, or in sand over rock mainly in

jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, djarraly in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with roug ...

or '' Banksia'' woodland in near coastal areas of Western Australia, from Tamala Station near Kalbarri to Nine Mile Lake Nature Reserve near Pinjarra, and extending inland as far as Three Springs, in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains,

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...

and Yalgoo bioregions.

Conservation status

''Pimelea leucantha'' is 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, from=Q17582314 leucantha Malvales of Australia Taxa named by Ludwig Diels Plants described in 1904 Flora of Western Australia