Ptilotus humilis

Ptilotus humilis is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a prostrate to low-lying annual herb with several stems, oblong to spatula-shaped leaves and oval or cylindrical spikes of green, white or pink flowers.

Description

Ptilotus humilis is a prostrate to low-lying annual herb, that typically grows to a height of, its stems and leaves covered with soft hairs, later glabrous. Its leaves are oblong to spatula-shaped, mostly long and wide. The flowers are arranged in oval or cylindrical spikes with colourless, glabrous bracts long and similar bracteoles long. The outer tepals are long and the inner tepals long with a tuft of hairs on the inner surface. The style is long and centrally fixed to the ovary. Flowering occurs from September to November.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1845 by Nees von Esenbeck who gave it the name Trichinium humile in Lehmann's
Plantae Preissianae from specimens collected near York in 1839.
In 1868, Ferdinand von Mueller transferred the species to Ptilotus as P. humilis in his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae.

Distribution and habitat

Ptilotus humilis grows in sandy soils, often over granite, in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

Ptilotus humilis is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.