Pimelea altior is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a shrub with elliptic leaves and heads of white, tube-shaped flowers.

Pimelea altior
In the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Thymelaeaceae
Genus: Pimelea
Species:
P. altior
Binomial name
Pimelea altior
Synonyms[1]
  • Banksia altior (F.Muell.) Kuntze
  • Pimelea altior F.Muell. var. altior
  • Pimelea altior var. parvifolia Domin
  • Pimelea altior var. typica Domin nom. inval.
  • Pimelea latifolia subsp. B
  • Pimelea latifolia subsp. altior (F.Muell.) Threlfall
  • Pimelea latifolia var. altior (F.Muell.) Threlfall
  • Pimelea latifolia var. parvifolia (Domin) Threlfall

Description

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Pimelea altior is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.9–1.4 m (2 ft 11 in – 4 ft 7 in) and has densely hairy young stems. The leaves are elliptic to broadly elliptic, 14–38 mm (0.55–1.50 in) long and 8–14 mm (0.31–0.55 in) wide, both surface densely covered with white hairs. The flowers are borne in heads of 4 to 7 on a peduncle up to 1 mm (0.039 in) long with four leafy bracts at the base. The flowers are white, the floral tube 5.2–8.2 mm (0.20–0.32 in) long and the sepals 0.9–1.6 mm (0.035–0.063 in) long. Flowering occurs sporadically throughout the year.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy

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Pimelea altior was first formally described in 1859 by Ferdinand von Mueller in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae from specimens collected near Moreton Bay.[5][6] The specific epithet (altior) means "higher".[7]

Distribution and habitat

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This pimealea grows in tall forests and on the edges of rainforest from near Eumundi in south-east Queensland to near Taree in northern New South Wales.[3][4]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Pimelea altior". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Pimelea latifolia subsp. altior". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Pimelea altior". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  4. ^ a b Bean, Anthony R. (2017). "A taxonomic revision of Pimelea section Epallage (Endl.) Benth. (Thymelaeaceae) in Queensland". Austrobaileya. 10 (1): 4–5. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Pimelea altior". APNI. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  6. ^ von Mueller, Ferdinand (1859). Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. Vol. 1. Melbourne: Victorian Government Printer. p. 84. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  7. ^ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 30.