{{short description|Species of plant}} {{Speciesbox |name = |image = Philotheca sericea.jpg |image_caption = ''Philotheca sericea'' near Paynes Find |status_system = |status = |genus = Philotheca |species = sericea |authority = (Paul G.Wilson) Paul G.Wilson<ref name=APC>{{cite web|title=''Philotheca sericea''|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/162025|publisher=Australian Plant Census|accessdate=14 August 2020}}</ref> |synonyms_ref =<ref name="APC" /> |synonyms = * ''Eriostemon sericeus'' <small>Paul G.Wilson</small> }} '''''Philotheca sericea''''' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an undershrub with small oval to elliptical leaves and white to pink flowers usually arranged singly at the end of branchlets.
==Description== ''Philotheca sericea'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|1.5|m}} with moderately hairy branchlets. The leaves are fleshy, oval to elliptical, {{cvt|1.5–3|mm}}, flat on the top and rounded on the lower side. The flowers are usually arranged singly at the end of branchlets, each flower on a pedicel about {{cvt|0.5|mm}} long. There are five triangular to round sepals about {{cvt|2.5|mm}} long and five white to pink, egg-shaped petals about {{cvt|10|mm}} long and densely covered with soft hairs. The ten stamens are joined at the base and hairy. Flowering occurs from July to September and the fruit is about {{cvt|4|mm}} long with a stout beak about {{cvt|2|mm}} long.<ref name="FoA">{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Paul G. |editor-last1=Wilson |editor-first1=Annette J.G. |title=Flora of Australia (Volume 26) |date=2013 |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study |location=Canberra |page=387 |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Philotheca%20sericea |accessdate=14 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="Nuytsia">{{cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Paul G. |title=A taxonomic revision of the genera ''Crowea'', ''Eriostemon'' and ''Phebalium'' (Rutaceae) |journal=Nuytsia |date=1970 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=37–38|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/223300#page/43/mode/1up |accessdate=14 August 2020}}</ref><ref name=FloraBase>{{FloraBase|name=''Philotheca sericea''|id=18508}}</ref>
==Taxonomy and naming== This philotheca was first formally described in 1970 by Paul Wilson who gave it the name ''Eriostemon sericeus'' and published the description in the journal ''Nuytsia'' from specimens collected by Nathaniel Speck near Kalli in 1964.<ref name="Nuytsia" /><ref name=APNI1>{{cite web|title=''Eriostemon sericeus''|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/500788|publisher=APNI|accessdate=14 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="ANBG">{{cite web |title=Speck, Nathaniel Henry (1906-1970) |url=http://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/speck-nathaniel.html |publisher=Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria Australian National Herbarium |accessdate=14 August 2020}}</ref> In 1998, Wilson changed the name to ''Philotheca sericea'' in the same journal.<ref name=APNI>{{cite web|title=''Philotheca sericea''|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/557417 |publisher=APNI|accessdate=14 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="Nuytsia2">{{cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Paul G. |title=A Taxonomic Review of the genera ''Eriostemon'' and ''Philotheca'' |journal=Nuytsia |date=1998 |volume=12 |issue=2 |page=255 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/226456#page/101/mode/1up|accessdate=14 August 2020}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== ''Philotheca sericea'' grows in shrubland, often near granite or laterite, from near Geraldton to near Sandstone in the south-west of Western Australia.<ref name="FoA" />
==Conservation status== This philotheca is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.<ref name="FloraBase" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q18076907}}
sericea Category:Flora of Western Australia Category:Sapindales of Australia Category:Plants described in 1970 Category:Taxa named by Paul Graham Wilson