''Pimelea sericea'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a shrub with densely hairy young stems, elliptic leaves arranged in opposite pairs, and compact clusters of white, pink or pinkish-white flowers.

Description

''Pimelea sericea'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of and has densely hairy young stems. Its leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, elliptic, long and wide on a short petiole. The upper surface of the leaves is dark green and glabrous, sometimes

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 ...

, and the lower surface is densely covered with white or silky, silvery hairs. The flowers are mostly

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 ...

and arranged on the ends of branches in compact clusters of many white, pink or pinkish-white flowers, that are densely hairy on the outside. The floral tube is long, the sepals 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 protrudes from the floral tube. Flowering mainly occurs from November to February. ''

Pimelea leiophylla ''Pimelea leiophylla'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a shrub with silky-hairy young stems, broadly elliptic to egg-shaped leaves, and clusters of 15 to 25 or more, bright white or p ...

'' is morphologically similar to ''P. sericea'' but has sparse hairs on the upper surface of the leaves, more flowers in each cluster, is restricted to altitudes below about and occurs on the

Freycinet Peninsula The Freycinet Peninsula is a large peninsula located on the eastern coast of Tasmania, Australia. The peninsula is located north of Schouten Island and is contained within the Freycinet National Park. The locality of Freycinet is in the local ...

and Schouten Island.

Taxonomy

''Pimelea sericea'' was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in his '' Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae''. 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 ...

(''sericea'') means "silky". This pimelea is included in Section Epallage of the genus ''

Pimelea ''Pimelea'', commonly known as rice flowers, is a genus of plants belonging to the family Thymelaeaceae. There are about 150 species, including 110 in Australia and thirty six in New Zealand. Description Plants in the genus ''Pimelea'' are he ...

''.

Distribution and habitat

This pimelea grows on alpine and subalpine moorland at altitudes of on mountains in Tasmania, including on Cradle Mountain,

Mount Barrow Mount Barrow ( Aboriginal: ''pialermeliggener'') is a mountain in the northern region of Tasmania, Australia. With an elevation of above sea level, the mountain is located east-north-east of Launceston. The mountain habitat is a mixture of ...

and

Mount Wellington Mount Wellington may refer to: Mountains * Mount Wellington (British Columbia), in Canada * Mount Wellington (New York), in Otsego County, New York, United States * Mount Wellington (Tasmania), in Tasmania, Australia * Mount Wellington (Victoria) ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17582284 sericea Malvales of Australia Flora of Tasmania Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)