''Petrophile axillaris'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae 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 else ...

to southwestern Western Australia. It is a shrub with pinnately-divided, sharply-pointed leaves, and spherical heads of hairy pink or grey flowers.

Description

''Petrophile axillaris'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of and has ribbed, hairy, grey or brown branchlets. The leaves are pinnately-divided to the midrib, long with twenty-five to seventy-six cylindrical, sharply-pointed lobes. The flowers are mostly arranged in leaf axils in more or less spherical heads long and wide, with elliptic to egg-shaped involucral bracts at the base. The flowers are long, pink or grey and hairy. Flowering mainly occurs from September to November and the fruit is a

nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...

, fused with others in a spherical to oval head long.

Taxonomy

''Petrophile axillaris'' was first formally described in 1855 by

Carl Meissner Carl Daniel Friedrich Meissner (1 November 1800 – 2 May 1874) was a Swiss botanist. Biography Born in Bern, Switzerland on 1 November 1800, he was christened Meisner but later changed the spelling of his name to Meissner. For most of his 40 ...

in '' Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany'' from material collected by James Drummond. The specific epithet (''axillaris'') means "axillary", referring to the flowers.

Distribution and habitat

This petrophile grows in sandy or gravelly limestone soils in near-coastal areas between

Geraldton Geraldton ( Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

and

Yalgorup National Park Yalgorup National Park is a national park in Western Australia, 105 km south of Perth, and directly south of Mandurah, Western Australia, Mandurah. The park is located on the western edge of the Swan Coastal Plain and contains a chain of ab ...

and disjunctly in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park in southwestern Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Petrophile axillaris'' is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrophile axillaris axillaris Eudicots of Western Australia Endemic flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1855 Taxa named by Carl Meissner