Pimelea sericostachya is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is an undershrub or shrub with densely hairy young stems, narrowly elliptic leaves, and heads of yellow or pale yellow flowers.

Pimelea sericostachya
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Thymelaeaceae
Genus: Pimelea
Species:
P. sericostachya
Binomial name
Pimelea sericostachya

Description

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Pimelea sericostachya is an undershrub or shrub that typically grows to a height of 30–80 cm (12–31 in), its young stems densely hairy. The leaves are narrowly elliptic, 14–32 mm (0.55–1.26 in) long and 3–9 mm (0.12–0.35 in) wide on a petiole 0.7–1.5 mm (0.028–0.059 in) long. The flowers are bisexual or female, yellow or pale yellow, and arranged in clusters of 33 to 95, 40–100 mm (1.6–3.9 in) long at maturity. The floral tube is 3–7.5 mm (0.12–0.30 in) long and the sepals 0.5–1.5 mm (0.020–0.059 in) long. Flowering occurs from February to September.[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

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Pimelea sericostachya was first formally described in 1864 by Ferdinand von Mueller in his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae from specimens collected near the "Sellham River" by Edward Bowman.[4][5] The specific epithet (sericostachya) means "silky flower spike".[6]

Distribution and habitat

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This pimelea grows in open forest and woodland on hills and ridges in sandy soil, between Bellevue Station west of Port Douglas, the Sellheim River south-east of Charters Towers and Dicks Tableland west of Mackay.[2][3]

References

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  1. ^ "Pimelea sericostachya". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b Rye, Barbara L. "Pimelea sericostachya". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b Bean, Anthony R. (2017). "A taxonomic revision of Pimelea section Epallage (Endl.) Benth. (Thymelaeaceae) in Queensland". Austrobaileya. 10 (1): 32–33. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Pimelea sericostachya". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  5. ^ von Mueller, Ferdinand (1864). Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. Vol. 4. Melbourne: Victorian Government Printer. pp. 162–163. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  6. ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 306. ISBN 9780958034180.