Philotheca basistyla

Philotheca basistyla, commonly known as the white-flowered philotheca,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small shrub with narrow club-shaped leaves and white flowers arranged singly on the ends of branchlets.

White-flowered philotheca
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Philotheca
Species:
P. basistyla
Binomial name
Philotheca basistyla
Mollemans[1]

Description

Philotheca basistyla is a shrub that grows to a height of 1 m (3 ft 3 in) with corky branchlets. The leaves are narrow club-shaped, about 10 mm (0.39 in) long with scattered warty glands. The flowers are borne singly on the ends of the branchlets, each flower on a narrow top-shaped pedicel about 1 mm (0.039 in) long. There are five broadly egg-shaped sepals about 1 mm (0.039 in) long and five elliptical white petals about 6 mm (0.24 in) long. The ten stamens are joined for two-thirds of their length to form a cylindrical tube. Flowering occurs from August to October.[3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

Philotheca basistyla was first formally described in 1993 by Frans Hendricus Mollemans in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected near Trayning.[4][5]

Distribution and habitat

White-flowered philotheca grows in dense scrub north-west of Southern Cross in the south-west of Western Australia.[3]

Conservation status

This philotheca is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and an interim recovery plan has been prepared.[2][6] It is also listed as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia). The main threats to the species include road and firebreak maintenance activities, pipeline management, weed invasion and grazing by rabbits.[6]

References
  1. "Philotheca basistyla". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  2. "SPRAT Profile - Philotheca basistyla - White-flowered philotheca". Australian Government Department of the Environment. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  3. Wilson, Paul G.; Wilson, Annette J.G. (ed.) (2013). Flora of Australia (Volume 26). Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study. p. 384. Retrieved 30 July 2020.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  4. Mollemans, F.H. (1993). "Drummondita wilsonii, Philotheca langei and P. basistyla (Rutaceae), new species from south-west Western Australia". Nuytsia. 9 (1): 101–102. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  5. "Philotheca basistyla". APNI. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  6. Bettink, Karen; Luu, Robyn; Brunt, Kate; Brown, Andrew. "White-flowered philotheca (Philotheca basistyla) Interim Recovery Plan 2004–2009" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Conservation and Land Management. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
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