Pimelea rara
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|name =
|image = Pimelea rara (6578831057).jpg
|image_caption =
|genus = Pimelea
|species = rara
|status_system = DECF
|status = P4
|authority=Rye{{cite web |title=Pimelea rara |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/70257 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=21 March 2023}}
}}
File:Summer pimelea (6578821667).jpg
Pimelea rara, commonly known as summertime pimelea,{{FloraBase|name=Pimelea rara|id=5260}} is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a shrub with elliptic or egg-shaped leaves, the narrower end towards the base, and heads of white flowers surrounded by 4 broadly egg-shaped involucral bracts.
Description
Pimelea rara is a shrub that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|20–35|cm}} and has a single stem at the base. The leaves are elliptic or egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, {{cvt|15–30|mm}} long and about {{cvt|8|mm}} wide on a short petiole. The flowers are arranged in heads surrounded 4 broadly egg-shaped involucral bracts {{cvt|9–20|mm}} long and about {{cvt|8|mm}} wide, each flower on a pedicel about {{cvt|0.6|mm}} long. The flower tube is about {{cvt|9|mm}} long and the sepals {{cvt|3–4|mm}} long, the stamens much longer than the sepals. Flowering occurs in December and January.{{cite web |last1=Rye |first1=Barbara L. |title=Pimelea rara |url= https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Pimelea%20rara |publisher=Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra |access-date=21 March 2023}}{{cite journal |last1=Rye |first1=Barbara L. |title=A revision of Western Australian Thymelaeaceae. |journal=Nuytsia |date=1988 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=234–236|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/232337#page/110/mode/1up |access-date=21 March 2023}}{{cite journal |last1=Rye |first1=Barbara L. |title=Four new names for Pimelea species (Thymelaeaceae) represented in the Perth region. |journal=Nuytsia |date=1984 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=9–10 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/223585#page/13/mode/1up |access-date=21 March 2023}}
Taxonomy
This pimelea was first formally described in 1873 by George Bentham, who gave it the name Pimelea lehmanniana var. ligustrinoides in Flora Australiensis from specimens collected by James Drummond in the Swan River Colony.{{cite web |title=Pimelea lehmanniana var. ligustrinoides |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/name/apni/478264/api/apni-format |website=APNI |accessdate=21 March 2023}}{{cite book |last1=Bentham |first1=George |title=Flora Australiensis |date=1873 |publisher=Lovell Reeve & Co. |location=London |page=9 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/44539#page/15/mode/1up |access-date=21 March 2023}} In 1984, Barbara Lynette Rye raised the variety to species status as P. rara in the journal Nuytsia.{{cite web |title=Pimelea pendens |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/name/apni/480285/api/apni-format |website=APNI |accessdate=6 March 2023}} The specific epithet (rara) means "scattered" or "uncommon".{{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 |page=292 |edition=3rd}}
Distribution and habitat
Pimelea rara grows in jarrah forest on the Darling Range in a small area between Parkerville and the Perth Observatory in the Jarrah Forest bioregion of south-western Western Australia.
Conservation status
Pimelea rara is listed as "Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is rare or near threatened.{{cite web|title=Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna|url=https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/plants-animals/threatened-species/Listings/Conservation%20code%20definitions.pdf|publisher=Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife|accessdate=21 March 2023}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q17582286}}
Category:Malvales of Australia
Category:Flora of Western Australia