''Pimelea filiformis'', commonly known as trailing rice flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Thymelaeaceae The Thymelaeaceae are a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants composed of 50 genera (listed below) and 898 species.Zachary S. Rogers (2009 onwards)A World Checklist of Thymelaeaceae (version 1) Missouri Botanical Garden Website, St. Louis. It ...

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 Tasmania. It is a prostrate or semi-prostrate undershrub with narrowly elliptic or elliptic leaves and clusters of more or less

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 ...

, 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 long, wide and more or less

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

, 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 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, ...

. The floral tube is deep pink and long and 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 white or pink and long. Flowering occurs from November to January.

Taxonomy

''Pimelea filiformis'' was first formally described in 1847 by

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of ...

in the ''

London Journal of Botany London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

'' from specimens near Launceston. 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 ...

(''filiformis'') means "thread-shaped".

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.

Conservation status

''Pimelea filiformis'' is listed as "rare" in the Tasmanian Government ''

Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 The ''Threatened Species Protection Act 1995'' (TSP Act), is an act of the Parliament of Tasmania that provides the statute relating to conservation of flora and fauna. Its long title is An Act to provide for the protection and management of t ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17581853 filiformis Malvales of Australia Flora of Tasmania Plants described in 1847 Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker