Pimelea pauciflora

Pimelea pauciflora, commonly known as poison rice-flower,[2] is a species of shrub in the family Thymelaeaceae. It has small yellow-lime flowers, green, smooth fleshy leaves and is endemic to Eastern Australia.

Poison rice-flower
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Thymelaeaceae
Genus: Pimelea
Species:
P. pauciflora
Binomial name
Pimelea pauciflora

Description

Pimelea pauciflora is a small shrub 1–3 m (3 ft 3 in–9 ft 10 in) high with smooth, long, reddish stems. The leaves are arranged opposite along the branches, glossy green, smooth, narrow-linear or linear lance shaped, 4–25 mm (0.16–0.98 in) long, 1–4 mm (0.039–0.157 in) wide on a short stem. The inflorescence consists of 3-9 yellowish-green flowers mostly at the end of branches in small clusters. The flowers are unisexual, smooth, male flowers 1–3 mm (0.039–0.118 in) long, female about 3 mm (0.12 in) long. The leaf-like overlapping flower bracts, usually 2, egg-shaped to narrow elliptic, 3–11 mm (0.12–0.43 in) long, 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) wide, smooth and green. The fruit are a succulent red berry, about 4 mm (0.16 in) wide and as the fruit develop the sepals and petals fall off. Flowering occurs from September to November.[2][3][4][5]

Taxonomy and naming

Pimelea pauciflora was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.[6][7] The specific epithet (pauciflora) is from the Latin pauci- meaning "few" and -florus meaning "flowered".[8]

Distribution and habitat

Poison rice-flower is found growing in open scrubland, forests, sometimes in dense thickets at higher altitudes south from Queanbeyan in New South Wales. In Victoria it grows near mountain streams in a few scattered locations.[2][4]

References

  1. "Pimelea pauciflora". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  2. "Pimelea pauciflora". VICFLORA-Online. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  3. "Pimelea pauciflora". Plants For a Future. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  4. "Pimelea pauciflora". PlantNET-NSW Flora Online. Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  5. Sharp, Sarah; Rehwinkel, Rainer; Mallinson, Dave; Eddy, David (2015). Woodland Flora-a field guide for the Southern Tableland (NSW & ACT). Canberra: Horizon Print Management. ISBN 978-0-9944958-0-8.
  6. "Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis 1802-1805". Biodiversity Heritage Library. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  7. "Pimelea pauciflora". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  8. Francis Aubie Sharr (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and their meanings. Sardinia Western Australia: Four Gables Press. p. 272. ISBN 978-0-9580341-8-0.
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