Pimelea ligustrina is a species of flowering plant in the family
Thymelaeaceae, and is
endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a shrub with lance-shaped or narrowly elliptic leaves arranged in opposite pairs, and clusters of creamy-white, white or pinkish flowers usually surrounded by 4 or 8, greenish to reddish brown
involucral bracts.
Description
Pimelea ligustrina is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.2–3 m (7.9 in – 9 ft 10.1 in) and has
glabrous stems. Its leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base or narrowly elliptic, mostly 15–90 mm (0.59–3.54 in) long and 7–20 mm (0.28–0.79 in) wide on a short
petiole. The flowers are
bisexual or female, creamy white or white, rarely pink, and arranged in large, erect clusters, surrounded by 4 or 8 lance-shaped to broadly elliptic involucral bracts 5–18 mm (0.20–0.71 in) long and 3–14 mm (0.12–0.55 in) wide. The
floral tube is 5.5–13 mm (0.22–0.51 in) long, the
sepals 1.5–5 mm (0.059–0.197 in) long and hairy on the outside. Flowering time varies with subspecies. The fruit is green and 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long.[2][3][4]
Pimelea ligustrina subsp. ciliata Threlfall[7] is a shrub up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) high with elliptic leaves mostly 15–40 mm (0.59–1.57 in) long, and heads of 20 to 70 flowers on a glabrous
peduncle, mainly from February to March.[8][9][10]
Pimelea ligustrina subsp. hypericina (
A.Cunn.) Threlfall[11] is a shrub 1–3 m (3 ft 3 in – 9 ft 10 in) high with leaves lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base to elliptic, mostly 30–60 mm (1.2–2.4 in) long, and heads of 36 to more than 150 flowers on a peduncle that has short, fine hairs, in September and October.[12][13]
Pimelea ligustrina Labill. subsp. ligustrina[14] is a shrub up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) high with variably-shaped leaves mostly 20–60 mm (0.79–2.36 in) long, and heads of 15 to 130 flowers on a glabrous
peduncle, mainly from October to December.[15][16][17]
Distribution and habitat
This pimelea occurs in the
A.C.T. and all states of Australia, except Western Australia.
Subspecies ciliata grows in forest,
snow gum woodland and heath above 1,400 m (4,600 ft) south from the
Brindabella Range in New South Wales, the A.C.T. and eastern Victoria.[8][9][10] Subspecies hypericina grows on the margins of wet forest and rainforest, mainly between the
Gibraltar Range and
Mount Cambewarra in New South Wales.[12][13] Subspecies ligustrina is widely distributed in forest below 1,400 m (4,600 ft) in south-east Queensland, eastern New South Wales, the A.C.T., southern Victoria, the far south-east of South Australia, and in Tasmania.[15][16][17][18]
Ecology
This pimelea is a food plant for caterpillars of the
yellow-spot blue butterfly.[19]
^Rye, Barbara L.
"Pimelea ligustrina". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
^Harden, Gwen J.
"Pimelea ligustrina". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
^Entwisle, Timothy J.
"Pimelea ligustrina". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
^
abRye, Barbara L.
"Pimelea ligustrina subsp. ciliata". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
^
abRye, Barbara L.
"Pimelea ligustrina subsp. hypericina". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
^
abRye, Barbara L.
"Pimelea ligustrina subsp. ligustrina". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 28 January 2023.