''Conostephium papillosum'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Ericaceae The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the south of Western Australia. It is a compact shrub with erect, narrowly elliptic or narrowly egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end toward the base, and pendulous, spindle-shaped, cream to straw-coloured and dark purple flowers.

Description

''Conostephium papillosum'' is a compact shrub that typically grows up about high and wide, and has many stems at the base. The leaves are erect, narrowly elliptic or narrowly egg-shaped with the narrower end toward the base, long and wide on a petiole long. Both sides of the leaves are sparsely hairy or

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin '' glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part o ...

. The flowers are more or less pendulous with overlapping bracts at the base. There are 7 to 9 broadly egg-shaped floral bracts, the upper bracts long, and egg-shaped to more or less round

bracteoles In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

long and wide. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s are egg-shaped or narrowly egg-shaped, long, the petal tube usually spindle-shaped and long and dark purple, the lobes white or cream-coloured. Flowering mainly occurs from May to October and the fruit is broadly oval and about long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Conostephium papillosum'' was first formally described in 2013 by

Michael Hislop Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

in the journal ''

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

'' from specimens he collected north of

Condingup Condingup is a town in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, in the Shire of Esperance local government area, southeast of the state capital, Perth. At the 2016 census, it and the surrounding region had a population of 278. ...

in 2006. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''papillosum'') means "

papillate This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

", referring to the texture of part of the petal tube.

Distribution and habitat

This species usually grows in mallee woodland, sometimes around saline depressions and is found from north-east of Esperance to

Israelite Bay Israelite Bay is a bay and locality on the south coast of Western Australia. Situated in the Shire of Esperance local government area, it lies east of Esperance and the Cape Arid National Park, within the Nuytsland Nature Reserve and the Gr ...

in the

Esperance Plains Esperance Plains, also known as Eyre Botanical District, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia on the south coast between the Avon Wheatbelt and Hampton bioregions, and bordered to the north by the Mallee region. It is ...

and Mallee bioregions of southern Western Australia.

Conservation status

This conostephium is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Western Australian government department responsible for managing lands and waters described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'', the ''Rottnest Island ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q51048383 papillosum Epacridoideae Eudicots of Western Australia Ericales of Australia Endemic flora of Western Australia Plants described in 2013