Pimelea bracteata
{{Short description|Species of shrub}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Pimelea bracteata.jpg
|image_caption =
|status_system = EPBC
|status = CR
|genus = Pimelea
|species = bracteata
|authority = Threlfall{{cite web|title=Pimelea bracteata|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/67014|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=22 July 2022}}
|synonyms =
}}
File:Pimelea bracteata habit.jpg]]
Pimelea bracteata, is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to the south-west of New South Wales. It is a shrub with narrowly egg-shaped to elliptic leaves and pendulous, pale green heads of pale yellow flowers.
Description
Pimelea bracteata is a shrub that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|0.6–2|m}} and has glabrous stems. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, narrowly egg-shaped or narrowly lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, to elliptic, {{cvt|5–20|mm}} long and {{cvt|2–6|mm}} wide on a short petiole. The leaves are glabrous, the upper surface sometimes purplish and the lower surface a paler shade of green. The flowers are borne in pendulous heads on a peduncle {{cvt|1–5|mm}} long, each with 6 or 8 broadly elliptic, pale green involucral bracts {{cvt|12–19|mm}} long and {{cvt|9–15|mm}} wide surrounding a large number of pale yellow flowers. The sepals are {{cvt|2–3|mm}} long and the stamens are about the same length as the sepals. Flowering occurs from November to February.{{cite web |title=Pimelea bracteata |last1=Rye |first1=Barbara L.|editor-last1=Busby |editor-first1=John R. | url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Pimelea%20bracteata |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra |access-date= 22 July 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Harden |first1=Gwen J. |title=Pimelea bracteata |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Pimelea~bracteata |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=22 July 2022}}
Taxonomy
This pimealea was first formally described in 1902 by Joseph Maiden and Ernst Betche who gave it the name Pimelea ligustrina var. glabra in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales.{{cite web|title=Pimelea ligustrina var. glabra|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/478488 |publisher=APNI|access-date=22 July 2022}}{{cite journal |last1=Maiden |first1=Joseph |last2=Betche |first2=Ernst |title=Notes from the Botanic Gardens, Sydney, No. 8. |journal=Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales |date=1902 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=63–64 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/29995#page/79/mode/1up |access-date=22 July 2022}} In 1983 S. Threlfall raised the variety to Pimelea bracteata in the journal Brunonia.{{cite web|title=Pimelea bracteata|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/475146 |publisher=APNI|access-date=22 July 2022}} The specific epithet (bracteata) means "bracteate".{{cite book |last1=Sharr |first1=Francis Aubi |last2=George |first2=Alex |title=Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, WA |isbn=9780958034180 |edition=3rd|page=149}}
Distribution and habitat
Pimelea bracteata grows along watercourses and in damp places at altitudes above {{cvt|1000|m}} near Kiandra in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales.
Conservation status
Pimelea bracteata is listed as "critically endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. The main threats to the species are disease and habitat fragmentation caused by Phytophthora infection, and the drying of the local environment.{{cite web |title=Pimelea bracteata - profile |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=20364 |publisher=New South Wales Government Office of Environment and Heritage |access-date=22 July 2022}}{{cite web |title=Conservation Advice Pimelea bracteata |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/pubs/8125-conservation-advice-07122021.pdf |publisher=Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment |access-date=22 July 2022}}