Pimelea latifolia subsp. latifolia

Family

Thymelaeaceae

Botanical Name

Pimelea latifolia R.Br. subsp. latifolia

Threlfall, S. (1983) Brunonia 5(2): 192. Type: ?.

Synonyms

Pimelea latifolia R.Br., Prodr.: 362(1810), Type: Queensland, Cumberland Is., 1802, R. Brown; holo: BM. Fide Threlfall, S. (1983) Brunonia 5: 191. Pimelea altior var. longifolia Domin, Bibliotheca Botanica 89(4): 990(1928), Type: Queensland: Tambourine Mts., im Unterwuchse der Regenwalder (DOMIN III. 1910). Holo: PR. Fide Threlfall, S.(1983) Brunonia 5: 192.

Common name

Rice Flower

Stem

Usually flowers and fruits as a shrub about 1-2 m tall.

Leaves

Twigs densely clothed in white hairs. Leaf blades about 30-50 x 8-15 mm, petioles very short, about 1 mm long. Lateral veins about 23-30 on each side of the midrib, difficult to distinguish on the upper surface but more obvious on the lower surface. Twig bark strong and fibrous when stripped.

Flowers

Perianth tube (hypanthium) about 5-10 mm long, hairy on the outer surface. Lobes about 1-3.5 mm long. Apex of the ovary hairy. Style short, stigma well below the apex of the perianth tube (hypanthium).

Fruit

Fruit about 5-6 mm long, clothed in white hairs particularly near the apex. Seeds about 4 mm long. Embryo about 3 mm long, radicle less than 1 mm long.

Seedlings

Cotyledons narrowly obovate, about 9-10 x 4-5 mm. First pair of true leaves subopposite. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade margin ciliate, the hairs about 1 mm long. Upper surface of the leaf blade glabrous, while the lower surface is clothed in silky hairs. Midrib depressed on the upper surface of the leaf blade. Stem brown, clothed in white hairs.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to Australia, occurs in NEQ and southwards as far as north-eastern New South Wales. Altitudinal range in NEQ from about 700-800 m. Usually grows as an understory plant in wet sclerophyll forest but sometimes found on rain forest margins.