Lasiopetalum glabratum explained

Lasiopetalum glabratum is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with densely hairy young stems, egg-shaped leaves and pale mauve-pink reddish-purple flowers.

Description

Lasiopetalum glabratum is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of up to, its young stems covered with tan or dark red, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are mostly glabrous, egg-shaped, mostly long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are borne in loose groups of three to six long, each group on a peduncle long, each flower on a pedicel long with linear to narrowly egg-shaped bracts long at the base and similar bracteoles long near the base of the sepals. The sepals are pale mauve-pink with a dark red base, the lobes narrowly egg-shaped long and there are no petals. The anthers are reddish-purple and long. Flowering usually occurs from August to December.[1] [2]

Taxonomy

Lasiopetalum glabratum was first formally described in 1974 by Susan Paust in the journal Nuytsia from specimens she collected near Mount Cooke in 1971.[3] The specific epithet (glabratum) means "without hair".[4]

Distribution and habitat

This lasiopetalum grows in forest or woodland, in areas east of Perth in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

Lasiopetalum glabratum is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

Notes and References

  1. Shepherd . Kelly A. . Wilkins . Carolyn F. . A revision of the Lasiopetalum floribundum group (Malvaceae), including recognition of four new species . Nuytsia . 2017 . 28 . 283–285 . 26 February 2022.
  2. Paust . Susan . Taxonomic studies in Thomasia and Lasiopetalum (Sterculiaceae) . Nuytsia . 1974 . 1 . 4 . 359–360 . 26 February 2022.
  3. Web site: Lasiopetalum glabratum. APNI. 25 February 2022.
  4. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 206 . 3rd.