Ptilotus chrysocomus

Ptilotus chrysocomus is an erect, compact shrub that typically grows up to {{cvt|50|cm}} high, and has erect, hairy stems. The leaves are sessile, glabrous, narrowly lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, {{cvt|4–10|mm}} long and {{cvt|0.8–1.2|mm}} wide. The flowers are yellow to straw-coloured, borne in oval to spherical heads {{cvt|5–11|mm}} long, {{cvt|7–10|mm}} wide, usually in a close panicle. There are egg-shaped, straw-coloured bracts {{cvt|1.2–1.5|mm}} long, and broadly egg-shaped to more or less round bracteoles. The outer tepals are {{cvt|3.4–4.0|mm}} long and hairy on the outside, the inner tepals {{cvt|3.6–4.2|mm}} long and hairy outside with finer hairs than those of the outer tepals. There are five stamens, the style is S-shaped, is {{cvt|1.4–1.7|mm}} long and the ovary is glabrous, round to oval, {{cvt|1.0–1.2|mm}} long. Flowering occurs from August to September.{{cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=Robert W. |title=Two new species of Ptilotus (Amaranthaceae) from Western Australia.|journal=Nuytsia |date=2004 |volume=15 |issue = 2 |pages=221–222 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/62062000#page/71/mode/1up |access-date=18 March 2025}}{{FloraBase | name = Ptilotus chrysocomus| id = 23487}}

Ptilotus chrysocomus was first formally described in 2004 by Robert Davis in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected {{cvt|4|km}} east-north-east of the abandoned Blue Hill Station in the Little Sandy Desert in 1999.{{cite web |title=Ptilotus chrysocomus |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/590955 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=18 March 2025}} The specific epithet (chrysocomus) means 'golden hairs', referring to the hairs on the tepals.

This species of Ptilotus grows in brown, sandy clays on the bases of breakaways and on rocky scree slopes in the Gascoyne, Little Sandy Desert and Murchison bioregions of inland Western Australia.

Ptilotus chrysocomus is listed as "Priority One" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is known from only one or a few locations where it is potentially at risk.{{cite web|title=Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna|url=https://www.epa.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/Referral_Documentation/DWERDT480152%20%20App%206%20-%202020%20Western%20Australian%20and%20Commonwealth%20of%20Australia%20Conservation%20Codes%282%29.pdf |publisher=Government of Western Australia Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions|accessdate=18 March 2025}}

• List of Ptilotus species

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chrysocomus

Category:Flora of Western Australia

Category:Eudicots of Western Australia

Category:Plants described in 2004