Philotheca papillata

Philotheca papillata is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of New South Wales. It is a small, erect, multistemmed shrub with glandular-warty, narrow elliptic leaves, and white to pale pink flowers arranged singly on the end of the stems.

Description

Philotheca papillata is an erect, multistemmed shrub that grows to a height of about with its stems covered by long, soft hairs. The leaves are narrow elliptic, long, wide and glandular-warty with four or five glands on each side of the lower surface. The flowers are borne singly on the ends of the stems and are sessile with five more or less round sepals long and five elliptical white to pale pink petals long. The ten stamens are long joined at their lower half. Flowering occurs in spring.

Taxonomy

Philotheca papillata was first formally described in 2006 by Ian Telford and Lachlan Copeland from specimens collected in the Sherwood Nature Reserve near Glenreagh in 2004.

Distribution and habitat

This philotheca grows in heath on sandstone in the Sherwood Nature Reserve near Glenreagh.

Conservation status

Philotheca papillata is listed as "vulnerable" under the New South Wales Government Biodiversity [Conservation Act 2016 (NSW)|Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016].