Lasiopetalum compactum Paust

Lasiopetalum compactum, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with leathery, narrowly oblong leaves and cymes of white to pinkish flowers.

Description

Lasiopetalum compactum is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in), its branchlets covered with rust-coloured to grey, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are leathery, narrowly oblong, 10–60 mm (0.39–2.36 in) long and 4–13 mm (0.16–0.51 in) wide on a hairy petiole 5–7 mm (0.20–0.28 in) long. The upper surfaces of the leaves is more or less glabrous and the lower surface is covered with woolly, star-shaped hairs, the mid-rib prominent. The flowers are arranged in cymes of five to seven 30–50 mm (1.2–2.0 in) long, the peduncle 5–15 mm (0.20–0.59 in) long with linear bracts about 5 mm (0.20 in) long at the base and three linear bracteoles about 7 mm (0.28 in) long at the base of the sepals. The sepals are pink, densely covered with white, woolly star-shaped hairs on the back and 5–8 mm (0.20–0.31 in) long with five narrowly egg-shaped lobes. The petals are spatula-shaped, about 1 mm (0.039 in) long and there are five stamens. Flowering occurs from July to October.^[2][3]

Taxonomy

Lasiopetalum compactum was first formally described in 1974 by Susan Paust in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected near Ravensthorpe in 1968.^[2][4] The specific epithet (compactum) "refers to the inflorescence".^[2]

Distribution and habitat

This lasiopetalum grows on rocky hillsides and among granite rocks, between the Fitzgerald River and Mount Burdett in the Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.^[3][2]

Conservation status

Lasiopetalum compactum is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.^[3]

References