Philotheca nutans

Philotheca nutans
Conservation status
Priority One — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Rutaceae
Genus:	Philotheca
Species:	P. nutans
Binomial name
Philotheca nutans (Paul G.Wilson) Paul G.Wilson[1]
Synonyms[1]
Eriostemon nutans Paul G.Wilson

Philotheca nutans is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, densely-branched shrub with club-shaped to cylindrical, glandular-warty leaves and pendent, pale yellow to pale red flowers arranged singly in leaf axils.

Description

Philotheca nutans is a densely-branched shrub that grows to a height of 30–90 cm (12–35 in) with glandular-warty branchlets. The leaves are cylindrical to club-shaped, about 11 mm (0.43 in) long and glandular-warty on the lower surface. The flowers are pendent and borne singly in leaf axils, each flower on a thin pedicel about 8 mm (0.31 in) long. There are five broadly egg-shaped sepals about 2.5 mm (0.098 in) long and five broadly egg-shaped, pale yellow to pale red petals 7–10 mm (0.28–0.39 in). The ten stamens are densely woolly-hairy. Flowering occurs from July to September.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

This philotheca was first formally described in 1970 by Paul Wilson who gave it the name Eriostemon nutans and published the description in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected by Charles Gardner in 1953.[3][5] In 1998, Wilson changed the name to Philotheca nutans in the same journal.[6][7]

Distribution and habitat

Philotheca nutans grows in woodland near the Wubin-Paynes Find road in the south-west of Western Australia.[2]

Conservation status

Philotheca nutans is classified as "Priority One" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife,[4] meaning that it is known from only one or a few locations which are potentially at risk.[8]

References

1. "Philotheca nutans". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
2. Wilson, Paul G.; Wilson, Annette J.G. (ed.) (2013). Flora of Australia (Volume 26). Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study. pp. 377–378. Retrieved 5 August 2020. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
3. Wilson, Paul G. (1970). "A taxonomic revision of the genera Crowea, Eriostemon and Phebalium (Rutaceae)". Nuytsia. 1 (1): 28. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
4. "Philotheca nutans". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
5. "Eriostemon nutans". APNI. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
6. "Philotheca nutans". APNI. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
7. Wilson, Paul G. (1998). "A Taxonomic Review of the genera Eriostemon and Philotheca". Nuytsia. 12 (2): 253. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
8. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 8 August 2020.