''Pimelea lanata'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Thymelaeaceae The Thymelaeaceae are a cosmopolitan family (biology), 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 Webs ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to the

southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

of Western Australia. It is a shrub with narrowly elliptic leaves and erect clusters of white to deep pink flowers surrounded by 4, mostly green,

involucral bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

Description

''Pimelea lanata'' is an erect, spindly shrub that typically grows to a height of and has a single stem at ground level. The leaves are narrowly elliptic, usually long and wide and sessile, or on a petiole up to long. The flowers are arranged in erect clusters, surrounded by 4 mostly green involucral bracts that are long, wide, each flower on a pedicel long. The floral tube is long, 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 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s long, and the

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s are longer than the sepals. Flowering occurs mainly from December to February.

Taxonomy

''Pimelea lanata'' was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in his book ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a book by the botanist Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and ...

''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''lanata'') means "woolly".

Distribution and habitat

This pimelea grows in winter-wet places on near-coastal plains between

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and Albany in the Jarrah Forest,

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...

and Warren bioregions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Pimelea lanata'' is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17582318 lanata Malvales of Australia Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773) Plants described in 1810 Flora of Western Australia