''Stenanthera pungens'' is a species of shrub that 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 a small area in the south-west of Western Australia. It was initially described in 2002 by

Gregory John Keighery Gregory John Keighery is an Australian botanist. Since 2003 he has been a senior research scientist at the Science and Conservation Division of the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions of Western Australia (formerly the Depar ...

who gave it the name ''Conostephium pungens'' and published the description in the ''

Nordic Journal of Botany The ''Nordic Journal of Botany'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of botany, including the plant ecology, taxonomy, evolution, conservation, and biogeography of plants, algae, bryophytes, and fungi. It originated from four botanical j ...

''. In 2016,

Michael Clyde Hislop Michael Clyde Hislop (born 1955) is an Australian botanist based in Perth at the Western Australian Herbarium. Career Hislop specialises in the curation, identification and taxonomy of plants, particularly the genus '' Styphelia'' which he rec ...

changed the name to ''Stenanthera pungens'' and the change has been accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Sys ...

. It is only known from the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

location where it grows on

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

dunes near a salt lake east of

Nyabing Nyabing is a small town and locality in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. The name is of Aboriginal origin and is thought to derive from the Aboriginal word "ne-yameng", which is the name of an everlasting flower '' Rhodanthe ma ...

in the Mallee

biogeographic region An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and con ...

. ''Stenanthera pungens'' is classified as " Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and en ...

meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations. Specimens of ''S. pungens'' have the distinction of being the 800,000th to be added to the

Western Australian Herbarium The Western Australian Herbarium is the state Herbarium, situated in Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It houses a collection of more than 845,000 dried specimens of plants, algae, bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts), lichens, fu ...

References

pungens Ericales of Australia Rosids of Western Australia Plants described in 2002 Endemic flora of Southwest Australia {{Australia-plant-stub