''Pimelea octophylla'', commonly known as woolly riceflower or downy riceflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is an erect shrub with densely hairy young stems, narrowly elliptic leaves and heads of 22 to 45 densely hairy, cream-coloured to pale yellow flowers surrounded by 6 to 12 leaf-like

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, ...

Description

''Pimelea octophylla'' is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of and has densely hairy young stems. Its leaves are mostly arranged alternately along the branches, narrowly elliptic, long and wide on a short petiole. The flowers are arranged on the ends of branches in compact, usually pendulous clusters of 25 to 45, sometimes up to 150, with 6 to 12 leaf-like involucral bracts long at the base. The flowers are cream-coloured to pale yellow, either

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

or female, and densely hairy except at the extreme base. The floral tube is long, the sepals long and the

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are shorter than the sepals. Flowering mainly occurs from August to February.

Taxonomy

''Pimelea octophylla'' was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in his '' Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae''. According to the Australian Plant Census, three former subspecies are now known as

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

: * ''Pimelea octophylla'' subsp. ''ciliolaris'' Threlfall, is a synonym of ''

Pimelea ciliolaris ''Pimelea ciliolaris'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of New South Wales. It is a stunted shrub with narrowly elliptic leaves and heads of densely hairy, cream-coloured to pale yel ...

'' (Threlfall)

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...

. * ''Pimelea octophylla'' subsp. ''petraea'' Meisn. Threlfall, is a synonym of ''

Pimelea imbricata ''Pimelea imbricata'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is native to the southwest of Western Australia and south-eastern South Australia. It is a shrub with narrowly elliptic leaves and erect, compact clusters of ...

'' var. ''petrea'' (Meisn.) Rye. * ''Pimelea octophylla'' subsp. ''subvillefera'' Threlfall, is a synonym of '' Pimelea subvellifera'' (Threlfall) Rye.

Distribution and habitat

Woolly riceflower grows in sandy soil, usually over rock and is found between the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia and the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria and is locally common in western Victoria.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7194617 octophylla Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (state) Malvales of Australia Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)