Diocirea acutifolia

Diocirea acutifolia is a shrub with many stems which sometimes grows to a height of 0.6 metres (2 ft) and spreads to a width of 0.8 metres (3 ft). Its branches are covered with raised light brown glands which produce a white resin. The leaves are arranged in a spiral around the stems and are mostly 6.6–9.5 millimetres (0.3–0.4 in) long, 1–1.5 millimetres (0.04–0.06 in) wide, linear in shape and often blue-green in colour due to dried resin on their surfaces.[2]

The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils and lack a stalk. There are 5 egg-shaped, pointed green sepals and 5 petals. The petals are white or pale violet joined to form a tube 2–3 millimetres (0.08–0.1 in) long with lobes which are also 2–3 millimetres (0.08–0.1 in) long and often spotted with purple, extending into the tube. The tube is mostly glabrous except for a few hairs on the bottom lobe and inside the tube. There are 4 stamens which extend slightly beyond the petal tube. The fruit that follows flowering is oval-shaped, surrounded by a hairy shell and is about 2 by 3 millimetres (0.08 in × 0.1 in).[2]

Diocirea acutifolia was first formally described by taxonomist Bob Chinnock in Eremophila and allied genera: a monograph of the plant family Myoporaceae in 2007[1][2] from a specimen collected near Kambalda, about 45 kilometres (30 mi) north of the Lake Cowan Causeway. The specific epithet (acutifolia) is derived from "Latin acutifolia, acute-leaved".[2]

Diocirea acutifolia occurs in a small area north of Norseman in the Coolgardie biogeographic region where it grows in woodland on gravelly loam.[2][3][4]

Diocirea acutifolia has been classified as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife[3] meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.[5]