Hibbertia mollis is a species of flowering plant in the family Dilleniaceae and is endemic to a restricted part of Western Australia. It is a shrub with hairy, ridged branches, narrow elliptic-oblong leaves, and yellow flowers arranged singly in leaf axils with about twenty-four stamens arranged in bundles around two densely scaly carpels.
| Hibbertia mollis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Dilleniales |
| Family: | Dilleniaceae |
| Genus: | Hibbertia |
| Species: | H. mollis
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| Binomial name | |
| Hibbertia mollis | |
Description
editHibbertia mollis is a shrub with only a few ridged branches and that typically grows to a height of up to 40 cm (16 in) high, the foliage covered with hairs or shield-shaped scales. The leaves are elliptic-oblong, 25–40 mm (0.98–1.57 in) long and 4–8 mm (0.16–0.31 in) wide on a petiole 0.3–1 mm (0.012–0.039 in) long. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils along the branches on a stiff, thread-like peduncle 4.2–5.6 mm (0.17–0.22 in) long, with oblong to strap-like bracts 3.6–4.2 mm (0.14–0.17 in) long. The five sepals are joined at the base, the two outer sepal lobes 7.2–7.5 mm (0.28–0.30 in) long and the inner lobes 4.4–4.8 mm (0.17–0.19 in) long. The five petals are wedge-shaped to lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, yellow, 2.2–2.6 mm (0.087–0.102 in) long and there are about twenty-four stamens of several different lengths arranged in bundles around the two densely scaly carpels, each carpel with two ovules. Flowering occurs in June.[2]
Taxonomy
editHibbertia mollis was first formally described in 2010 by Hellmut R. Toelken in the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens from specimens collected near Prince Frederick Harbour in 1985.[2][3] The specific epithet (mollis) means "soft", referring to the hairs on the foliage of this species.[2][4]
Distribution and habitat
editThis hibbertia is only known from the type specimen that was growing on a sandstone outcrop at the mouth of the Hunter River in the Northern Kimberley biogeographic region of Western Australia.[2]
Conservation status
editHibbertia mollis is only known from the type specimen but is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Hibbertia mollis". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ a b c d Toelken, Hellmut R. (2010). "Notes on Hibbertia (Dilleniaceae) 5. H. melhanioides and H. tomentosa groups from tropical Australia" (PDF). Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. 23: 64–65. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ "Hibbertia mollis". APNI. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 254. ISBN 9780958034180.
- ^ "Hibbertia mollis". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.