Pimelea ferruginea explained

Pimelea ferruginea, commonly known as pink rice flower[1] or coastal banjine,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to near-coastal areas of south-western Western Australia. It is a dense, erect shrub with elliptic to narrowly elliptic leaves and head-like clusters of pale to deep pink, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

Pimelea ferruginea is a dense, erect shrub that typically grows to a height of and usually has a single stem at ground level. The leaves are elliptic to narrowly elliptic with the edges curved down, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are pale to deep pink and borne in erect, head-like clusters on a hairy peduncle long, surrounded by 4 broadly egg-shaped bracts long, each flower on a hairy pedicel long. The floral tube is long, the sepals long. Flowering mainly occurs from August to February.[3] [4]

Taxonomy

Pimelea ferruginea was first formally described in 1805 by Jacques Labillardière in his Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen.[5] [6] The specific epithet (ferruginea) means "rust-coloured".[7]

Distribution and habitat

Pink rice flower grows on coastal sand dunes and rocky headlands in near-coastal areas between Cliff Head near Arrowsmith, and Point Culver, in the Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren bioregions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

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

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pimelea ferruginea . Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) . 14 November 2022.
  2. Rye . Barbara L. . An updated revision of Pimelea sect. Heterolaena (Thymelaeaceae), including two new taxa. . Nuytsia . 1999 . 13 . 1 . 174–177 . 14 November 2022.
  3. Web site: Rye . Barbara L. . Pimelea ferruginea . Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 14 November 2022.
  4. Rye . Barbara L. . A revision of Western Australian Thymelaeaceae. . Nuytsia . 1988 . 6 . 2 . 251 . 14 November 2022.
  5. Web site: Pimelea ferruginea. APNI. 14 November 2022.
  6. Book: Labillardière . Jacques . Novae Hollandiae plantarum specimen . 1805 . Paris . 10–11 . 14 November 2022.
  7. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 198 . 3rd.