Pimelea filiformis
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Pimelea filiformis.jpg
|image_caption =
|genus = Pimelea
|species = filiformis
|status_system =
|status =
|authority=Hook.f.{{cite web |title=Pimelea filiformis |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/67891 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=8 November 2022}}
|synonyms = Banksia filiformis (Hook.f.) Kuntze
}}
Pimelea filiformis, commonly known as trailing rice flower,{{cite web |title=Pimelea filiformis (trailing rice flower) |url=https://www.fpa.tas.gov.au/botany/images/Pimelea_filiformis_notes.pdf |publisher=Forest Practices Authority, Tasmania |access-date=22 November 2022}} is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a prostrate or semi-prostrate undershrub with narrowly elliptic or elliptic leaves and clusters of more or less glabrous, pink or white flowers.
Description
Pimelea filiformis is a prostrate or semi-prostrate undershrub with glabrous stems. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, narrowly elliptic or elliptic, mostly {{cvt|3–11|mm}} long, {{cvt|1–6|mm}} wide and more or less sessile, the lower surface paler than the upper one. The flowers are more or less glabrous, arranged in clusters on the ends of branches, and lack involucral bracts. The floral tube is deep pink and {{cvt|3.5–5|mm}} long and the sepals white or pink and {{cvt|2–3|mm}} long. Flowering occurs from November to January.{{cite web |title=Pimelea filiformis |last1=Rye |first1=Barbara L.|editor-last1=Busby |editor-first1=John R. | url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Pimelea%20filiformis |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra |access-date= 22 November 2022}}{{cite book |last1=Rodway |first1=Leonard |title=The Tasmanian Flora |date=1903 |publisher=Tasmanian Government Printer |location=Hobart |page=174 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37374960#page/252/mode/1up |access-date=22 November 2022}}
Taxonomy
Pimelea filiformis was first formally described in 1847 by Joseph Dalton Hooker in the London Journal of Botany from specimens near Launceston.{{cite web |title=Pimelea filiformis |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/name/apni/476562/api/apni-format |website=APNI |accessdate=22 November 2022}} The specific epithet (filiformis) means "thread-shaped".{{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 |pages=198–199 |edition=3rd}}
Distribution and habitat
This pimelea grows on plains in shrubby forest near Launceston in northern and north-eastern Tasmania. It often forms flat clumps and is often found trailing through other vegetation.{{cite web |last1=Jordan |first1=Greg |title=Pimelea filiformis |url=https://www.utas.edu.au/dicotkey/dicotkey/THYMEL/sPimelea_filiformis.htm |publisher=University of Tasmania |access-date=22 November 2022}}
Conservation status
Pimelea filiformis is listed as "rare" in the Tasmanian Government Threatened Species Protection Act 1995.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q17581853}}
Category:Malvales of Australia