Philotheca basistyla
{{short description|Species of plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = White-flowered philotheca
|image =
|image_caption =
|status_system = EPBC
|status = EN
|genus = Philotheca
|species = basistyla
|authority = Mollemans{{cite web|title=Philotheca basistyla|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/134426|publisher=Australian Plant Census|accessdate=30 July 2020}}
|synonyms_ref =
|synonyms =
}}
Philotheca basistyla, commonly known as the white-flowered philotheca,{{cite web |title=SPRAT Profile - Philotheca basistyla - White-flowered philotheca |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=64941 |publisher=Australian Government Department of the Environment |accessdate=30 July 2020}} is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small shrub with narrow club-shaped leaves and white flowers arranged singly on the ends of branchlets.
Description
Philotheca basistyla is a shrub that grows to a height of {{cvt|1|m}} with corky branchlets. The leaves are narrow club-shaped, about {{cvt|10|mm}} long with scattered warty glands. The flowers are borne singly on the ends of the branchlets, each flower on a narrow top-shaped pedicel about {{cvt|1|mm}} long. There are five broadly egg-shaped sepals about {{cvt|1|mm}} long and five elliptical white petals about {{cvt|6|mm}} long. The ten stamens are joined for two-thirds of their length to form a cylindrical tube. Flowering occurs from August to October.{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Paul G. |last2=Wilson |first2=Annette J.G. (ed.) |title=Flora of Australia (Volume 26) |date=2013 |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study |location=Canberra |page=384 |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Philotheca%20basistyla |accessdate=30 July 2020}}{{cite journal |last1=Mollemans |first1=F.H. |title=Drummondita wilsonii, Philotheca langei and P. basistyla (Rutaceae), new species from south-west Western Australia |journal=Nuytsia |date=1993 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=101–102 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/224512#page/107/mode/1up |accessdate=30 July 2020}}
Taxonomy and naming
Philotheca basistyla was first formally described in 1993 by Frans Hendricus Mollemans in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected near Trayning.{{cite web|title=Philotheca basistyla|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/557383|publisher=APNI|accessdate=30 July 2020}}
Distribution and habitat
White-flowered philotheca grows in dense scrub north-west of Southern Cross in the south-west of Western Australia.
Conservation status
This philotheca is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and an interim recovery plan has been prepared.{{cite web |last1=Bettink |first1=Karen |last2=Luu |first2=Robyn |last3=Brunt |first3=Kate |last4=Brown |first4=Andrew |title=White-flowered philotheca (Philotheca basistyla) Interim Recovery Plan 2004–2009 |url=https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/3addac08-3f67-4478-bdb5-092b25f7b0dc/files/p-basistyla.pdf |publisher=Government of Western Australia Department of Conservation and Land Management |accessdate=30 July 2020}} It is also listed as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia). The main threats to the species include road and firebreak maintenance activities, pipeline management, weed invasion and grazing by rabbits.
References
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Category:Flora of Western Australia