Botanical Name: Pimelea humilis
Commonly Called: Dwarf riceflower
Botanical Family: Thymelaeaceae
Grows: This small, understorey or heathland plant grows 5 to 35cm high by 30 to 50cm wide.
Foliage: The ascending or erect, much branched, not dichotomous branches are more or less soft and the younger stems are densely silky-villous while the sparsely leafy older stems are more or less smooth. The younger leaves are sparsely silky-hairy while the 5-16mm by 1 to 9mm wide long, elliptic to narrowly elliptic-oblong, green/grey adult leaves, with undulating edges, are flat and glabrous and grow in opposite pairs. Usually both surfaces are the same colour or the lower surface may be a little paler.
Flowers:The erect, terminal inflorescences are compact heads of 10 to many more tubular creamy-white flowers with 2 oraange central stamens. They have 4 to 6 involucral sessile bracts that are a little broader than the foliage leaves and have glabrous lower surfaces and are sparsely pubescent near the midrib upper surfaces. These flowers are bisexual or pistillate with hairy pedicels. The hypanthium of the bisexual flowers is 10 to 15mm long with 1 to 5mm spreading lobes that are hairy on their underside. Where as the hypanthium and lobes of the pistillate flowers are a bit shorter. The 2 erect stamens are about as long as the lobes or shorter and the style is excerted.
Flowering Season: Flowers appear in late spring.
Fruit: The fruit are discrete black seeds within a hairy capsule.
Habitat/distribution: These plants are found especially at lower altitudes in open dry forests, drier heaths, grasslands and rocky places from sea level to about 800m altitude. They are also found growing in SA, NSW and Vic.
Where found: Bridport, Little Mussel Roe Bay at Cape Portland, Croppies Point, One Tree Hill, Pipers Head and Port Sorell along the north coast; Eddystone Point, Freycinet National Park (NP), Hughes Creek, Lake Leake Road, Lime Bay, Little Swanport, Maria Island, Piermont, Prosser River, Swanport, Tiger Head and Crescent Bay, Miagnon Blow Hole and Safety Cove in Tasman NP down the east coast; Buddins Hill, Collinsvale Road, Coningham Reserve, Gellibrand Drive in Sandford, Huonville Hills, Opossum Bay, Arm End and many other places in the south east; north of Broadmarsh, Ellendale, Cluny Lagoon, Ellendale, Cluny Lagoon and Waddles Hunting Grounds Jordan River; Mt Arrosmith, Big Den Lake River, Macquarie Road, near Meander, Dunorian and Virginstow Forest; Meadow Bank, Bonney Plains, Dowranna, Blessington, Ben Lomond NP and South Esk River; and Golconda; also many more location throughout the state.
Other notes: In cultivation they are a hardy rockery plant and may tend to form suckers. They may attract butterflies and should be pruned after the flowers have finished. This species can be propagated from division or basal cuttings. Its distinguishing features are the small height and hairy stems.