Conostylis latens is a rhizomatous, tufted perennial, grass-like plant or herb in the family Haemodoraceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has flat, green, usually hairy leaves, and greenish-yellow, tubular flowers.
Conostylis latens is a rhizomatous, tufted, perennial, grass-like plant or herb. It has flat, green leaves long and wide, usually with white, feather-like hairs on the edges. Several flowers are borne on a hemispherical head on a flowering stem long and slightly shorter than the leaves. The perianth is long and pale yellowish-green, ageing to brick red, the lobes long and cream-coloured inside. The anthers are long and the style long. Flowering occurs in August and September.[1]
Conostylis latens was first formally described in 1987 by Stephen Hopper in the Flora of Australia from specimens he collected on Mount Michaud, west of Mount Lesueur in 1982.[2] [3] The specific epithet (latens) means "hidden" or "secret", referring to the fact that the species was overlooked until late in the study of Conostylis.[4]
This conostylis grows in sand or sandy soils over laterite in mallee heath, low woodland, winter-wet areas and swamps, mainly between Mount Lesueur and the Moore River in the Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.[1]