Lasiopetalum compactum

Lasiopetalum compactum, 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 leathery, narrowly oblong leaves and cymes of white to pinkish flowers.

Lasiopetalum compactum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Lasiopetalum
Species:
L. compactum
Binomial name
Lasiopetalum compactum

Description

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Lasiopetalum compactum is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in), its branchlets covered with rust-coloured to grey, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are leathery, narrowly oblong, 10–60 mm (0.39–2.36 in) long and 4–13 mm (0.16–0.51 in) wide on a hairy petiole 5–7 mm (0.20–0.28 in) long. The upper surfaces of the leaves is more or less glabrous and the lower surface is covered with woolly, star-shaped hairs, the mid-rib prominent. The flowers are arranged in cymes of five to seven 30–50 mm (1.2–2.0 in) long, the peduncle 5–15 mm (0.20–0.59 in) long with linear bracts about 5 mm (0.20 in) long at the base and three linear bracteoles about 7 mm (0.28 in) long at the base of the sepals. The sepals are pink, densely covered with white, woolly star-shaped hairs on the back and 5–8 mm (0.20–0.31 in) long with five narrowly egg-shaped lobes. The petals are spatula-shaped, about 1 mm (0.039 in) long and there are five stamens. Flowering occurs from July to October.[2][3]

Taxonomy

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Lasiopetalum compactum was first formally described in 1974 by Susan Paust in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected near Ravensthorpe in 1968.[2][4] The specific epithet (compactum) "refers to the inflorescence".[2]

Distribution and habitat

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This lasiopetalum grows on rocky hillsides and among granite rocks, between the Fitzgerald River and Mount Burdett in the Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.[3][2]

Conservation status

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Lasiopetalum compactum is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Lasiopetalum compactum". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Paust, Susan (1974). "Taxonomic studies in Thomasia and Lasiopetalum (Sterculiaceae)". Nuytsia. 1 (4): 362–373, 366. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Lasiopetalum compactum". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  4. ^ "Lasiopetalum compactum". APNI. Retrieved 6 February 2022.