Balaustion multicaule
Balaustion multicaule is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with many stems at it base, narrowly to broadly egg-shaped or linear leaves and pale pink flowers with usually 18 to 20 stamens.Description
Balaustion multicaule is a shrub that typically grows to high and has many stems at its base. Its leaves are narrowly egg-shaped to very narrowly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, or linear, about long and wide with one or two rows of oil glands each side of the midvein. The flowers are about in diameter, the flowers on a peduncle long. The floral tube is long and wide and green. The sepals are egg-shaped, about long, wide and red and the petals are pale pink, about long, with 18 to 20 stamens. Flowering occurs in October and November, and the fruit is a capsule long and in diameter.Taxonomy
Balaustion multicaule was first formally described in 2022 by Barbara Lynette Rye in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected near the Mount Holland Track in 2004. The specific epithet means 'many stemmed'.Distribution and habitat
This species of Balaustion grows in sandy soils in heath and is only known from the Sheoak Rock area, east of Hyden in the Mallee bioregion of south-western Western Australia.Conservation status
Balaustion multicaule is listed as "Declared [Rare and Priority Flora List|Priority One]" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and [Attractions (Western Australia)|Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions], meaning that it is known from only one or a few locations where it is potentially at risk.