Petrophile pilostyla
| Petrophile pilostyla | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Proteales |
| Family: | Proteaceae |
| Genus: | Petrophile |
| Species: | P. pilostyla
|
| Binomial name | |
| Petrophile pilostyla | |
Petrophile pilostyla is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to southwestern Western Australia. It is a shrub with needle-shaped, sharply-pointed leaves and spherical heads of hairy, cream-coloured or pale yellow flowers.
Description[edit]
Petrophile pilostyla is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.4–1.7 m (1 ft 4 in – 5 ft 7 in) and has prominently ribbed, glabrous branchlets. The leaves are needle-shaped, sometimes strongly curved or s-shaped, 40–110 mm (1.6–4.3 in) long and 1–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) wide with a sharply-pointed tip. The flowers are mostly arranged on the ends of branchlets in sessile, spherical heads 22–35 mm (0.87–1.38 in) in diameter, with narrow egg-shaped, glabrous involucral bracts at the base. The flowers are 9.5–17 mm (0.37–0.67 in) long, cream-coloured or pale yellow, and hairy. Flowering mainly occurs from July to early September and the fruit is a nut, fused with others in a more or less spherical head 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long in diameter.[2][3]
Taxonomy[edit]
Petrophile pilostyla was first formally described in 2005 by Barbara Lynette Rye and Michael Clyde Hislop in the journal Nuytsia from material collected near Binnu in 2003.[2][4] The specific epithet (pilostyla) means "having a hairy style".[2][5]
In the same paper, Rye and Hislop described three subspecies and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
- Petrophile pilostyla subsp. austrina Rye & Hislop;[6]
- Petrophile pilostyla Rye & Hislop subsp. pilostyla;[7]
- Petrophile pilostyla subsp. syntoma Rye & Hislop.[8]
Distribution and habitat[edit]
This petrophile is found on low hills where it grows in sandy-gravelly soils over limestone or laterite between Tamala Station near Shark Bay and Watheroo National Park in the Geraldton Sandplains biogeographic region.[2][3]
Conservation status[edit]
Petrophile pilostyla is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife[3] but subspecies syntoma is classified as "Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife[3] meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.[9][10]
References[edit]
- ^ "Petrophile pilostyla". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ a b c d Rye, Barbara L.; Hislop, Michael C. (2005). "A taxonomic update of Petrophile sect. Arthrostigma (Proteaceae)" (PDF). Nuytsia. 15 (3): 476–480. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Petrophile pilostyla". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ "Petrophile pilostyla". APNI. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 277. ISBN 9780958034180.
- ^ "Petrophile pilostyla subsp. austrina". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ "Petrophile pilostyla subsp. pilostyla". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ "Petrophile pilostyla subsp. syntoma". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ "Petrophile pilostyla subsp. syntoma". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.