Pimelea
Pimelea brevistyla
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Thymelaeaceae
Subfamily: Thymelaeoideae
Genus: Pimelea
Sol. & Banks ex Gaertn.[1]
Species

About 150 species; see text

Synonyms[1]
List
    • Aschenfeldtia Meisn. nom. inval., pro syn.
    • Banksia J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. nom. rej.
    • Calyptostregia C.S.P.Foster & Henwood orth. var.
    • Calyptrostegia C.A.Mey.
    • Cookia J.F.Gmel. nom. illeg.
    • Gymnococca C.A.Mey.
    • Heterolaena (Endl.) C.A.Mey isonym
    • Heterolaena (Endl.) C.A.Mey.
    • Macrostegia Turcz. nom. illeg.
    • Pimelea b. Heterolaena Endl.
    • Pimelea sect. Calyptrostegia (C.A.Mey.) Benth.
    • Pimelea sect. Gymnococca (C.A.Mey.) Meisn.
    • Pimelea sect. Thecanthes (Wikstr.) Meisn.
    • Pimelea subg. Thecanthes (Wikstr.) Gilg
    • Pimelia Lodd., G.Lodd. & W.Lodd. orth. var.
    • Thecanthes Wikstr.

Pimelea, commonly known as rice flowers, is a genus of plants belonging to the family Thymelaeaceae. There are about 150 species, including 110 in Australia and 36 in New Zealand.

Description

Plants in the genus Pimelea are herbs or small shrubs, usually with leaves arranged in opposite pairs. The leaves are usually paler on the lower surface and the petiole is usually very short. The flowers are usually arranged in groups on the ends of the branches and have no petals, but four petal-like sepals and two stamens. The ovary has a single ovule and the fruit is usually a nut containing a single seed.[2]

Taxonomy and naming

The genus Pimelea was first formally described in 1788 by Joseph Gaertner from unpublished descriptions by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander. The first species Gaertner described was Pimelea laevigata, now known as Pimelea prostrata.[3][4][5][6][7]

The name Pimelea is from the Ancient Greek word pimele, meaning "fat or "lard",[8] possibly referring to the oily seeds or fleshy cotyledons of riceflowers.[9]

Ecology

Some species, including P. curviflora, P. flava, P. glauca, P. linifolia, P. microcephala, P. neo-anglica, P. pauciflora, P. simplex and P. trichostachya, are toxic to stock; there is no known cure.[2][10][11][12]

Species

About 150 species of Pimelea have been formally described, including about 110 in Australia and 36 in New Zealand.[2] The following is a combined list of names accepted by the Australian Plant Census or the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network as of December 2021.[13][14]

References

  1. 1 2 "Pimelea". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Harden, Gwen J. "Genus Pimelea". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  3. "Pimelea". APNI. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  4. Gaertner, Joseph (1788). De fructibus et seminibus plantarum (Volume 1). Stuttgart. p. 186. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  5. "Pimelea". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  6. "Pimelea Gaertn". Western Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  7. "Pimelea". Australian National Botanic Garden. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  8. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 318.
  9. "Pimelea spectabilis Lindl". The Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  10. Gordon, Russell J.; Hungerford, Natasha L.; Laycock, Bronwyn; Fletcher, Mary T. (October 2020). "A review on Pimelea poisoning of livestock". Toxicon. 186: 46–57. doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2020.07.023.
  11. "Understanding Pimelea poisoning of cattle" (PDF). State of Queensland Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  12. Perry, Nigel (24 September 2007). "Strathmore weed". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  13. "Pimelea". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  14. "Pimelea". New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
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