Philotheca cymbiformis

Philotheca cymbiformis is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-western area of Western Australia. It is a low, spreading small shrub with fleshy, narrow elliptic leaves and single white and reddish brown flowers on the ends of branchlets.

Description

Philotheca cymbiformis is a shrub that grows to a height of with greyish, glabrous stems. The leaves are narrow elliptical, fleshy, long and smooth or slightly glandular-warty. The flowers are borne singly on the ends of branchlets, each flower on a pedicel about long. There are five triangular sepals about long and five egg-shaped white petals with a reddish-brown stripe and about long. The ten stamens each that are free from each other and densely hairy near the base. Flowering occurs from September to November.

Taxonomy and naming

This philotheca was first formally described in 1971 by Paul Wilson who gave it the name Eriostemon cymbiformis and published the description in the journal Nuytsia from specimens he collected in the Fitzgerald River Reserve. In 1998, Wilson changed the name to Philotheca cymbiformis in the same journal.

Distribution and habitat

Philotheca cymbiformis grows on sand in the Fitzgerald River National Park.

Conservation status

This species is classified as "Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.