''Pimelea simplex'', commonly known as desert rice-flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to inland Australia. It is a

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

or semi-woody annual with narrowly elliptic to linear leaves, and compact heads of densely hairy white to yellowish-green flowers.

Description

''Pimelea simplex'' is herb or semi-woody annual that typically grows to a height of and has hairy young stems. The leaves are arranged alternately along the stems and are usually narrowly elliptic, long and wide on a short petiole. The flowers are

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 ...

and borne on the ends of branches in dense clusters of many white to yellowish-green flowers, the rachis densely covered with fine hairs. The floral tube is long, the sepals erect and long. Flowering occurs from June to October.

Taxonomy

''Pimelea simplex'' was first formally described in 1853 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

in the journal '' Linnaea''. The specific epithet, (''simplex'') means "simple" or "undivided". In 1983,

S. Threlfall S is the nineteenth letter of the English alphabet. S may also refer to: History * an Anglo-Saxon charter's number in Peter Sawyer's, catalogue Language and linguistics * Long s (ſ), a form of the lower-case letter s formerly used where "s ...

described two subspecies of ''P. simplex'' in the journal ''

Brunonia ''Brunonia australis'', commonly known as the blue pincushion or native cornflower, is a perennial or annual herb that grows widely across Australia. It is found in woodlands, open forest and sand plains. In Cronquist's classification scheme ...

'', and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census'': * ''Pimelea simplex'' subsp. ''continua'' (

J.M.Black John McConnell Black (28 April 1855 – 2 December 1951) was a Scottish botanist who emigrated to Australia in 1877 and eventually documented and illustrated thousands of flora in South Australia in the early 20th century. His publications assi ...

) Threlfall (previously known as ''Pimelea continua'' J.M.Black), is a sturdy plant with flower clusters usually long at maturity, on peduncles up to long, the individual flowers long. * ''Pimelea simplex'' F.Muell. subsp. ''simplex'' is a slender plant with flower clusters up to long at maturity, on peduncles up to long, the individual flowers long.

Distribution and habitat

Subspecies ''continua'' tends to grow on soils on heavier texture than subsp. ''simplex''. Both species are found in inland Australia, but subsp. ''simpex'' has a wider distribution, occurring throughout most of South Australia, western New South Wales, central and south-western Queensland, and the far north-west of Victoria. Subspecies ''continua'' does not appear to occur in Victoria but is known from a few collections in the Northern Territory.

Conservation status

''Pimelea simplex'' is listed as "near threatened" under the northern Territory ''

Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q17582280, from2=Q50920818, from3=Q50920810

simplex In geometry, a simplex (plural: simplexes or simplices) is a generalization of the notion of a triangle or tetrahedron to arbitrary dimensions. The simplex is so-named because it represents the simplest possible polytope in any given dimension. ...

Malvales of Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of New South Wales Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1853 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller