Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Pimelea axiflora
Common name
Bootlace Bush
Alpine Bootlace Bush (subsp. alpina)
Bungonia Rice-flower (subsp. pubescens)
Family
Thymelaeaceae
Where found
subsp. alpina: Open forest, woodland, heath, grassy areas, and alpine herbfields, and rocky areas. Kosciuszko National Park
subsp. axiflora: Forest, shrubland, along streams, and damp places. Widespread, mainly coast and ranges south from Budawang National Park east of Braidwood.
subsp. pubescens: On limestone cliffs and outcrops. Bungonia Gorge area east of Goulburn.
Notes
Shrub to 3 m high. Bark smooth. Tough 'bootlace' bark when the stems broken. Stems hairless or sometimes hairy. Leaves opposite each other, 0.3–7.5 cm long, 1–12 mm wide, Leaves linear to elliptic, rarely wider, 5–60 mm long, 2–10 mm wide, mid-green on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, mostly hairless; secondary veins prominent on the lower surface, margins usually curved down. Male and female flowers on different plants. Flowers white to creamy white, 3-9 mm long, tubular, with 4 spreading lobes each 1-3 mm long. Flowers in 2–10 flowered heads at the base of the leaves, surrounded by 2–6 brown or green bracts, each 0.15–0.7 cm long.
subsp. alpina: Shrub to 1 m high, often semi-prostrate. Stems with leaf scars, hairless. Leaves 0.3–1.8 cm long, 1-8 mm wide, hairless, leathery, straight. Flowers sparsely hairy outside. Male flowers 4-6 mm long. Female flowers 3–6 mm long. Flowers 2–5 in each head. Bracts mostly 2–4 mm long, brown, hairless. Flowers Nov.–Mar.
Rare Vic.
subsp. axiflora: Shrub to 3 m high, young stems hairy to hairless. Leaves 1–7.5 cm long, 1–12 mm wide, soft, sometimes slightly strongly curved., surfaces hairless. Flowers densely hairy outside the towards the base, less hairy above. Female flowers 3–4 mm long. Flowers 2–10 in each head. Bracts mostly 2–7 mm long, brown or green, outer surface often hairy with fine hairs. Flowers June-Nov.
subsp. pubescens: Shrub to 3 m high. Stems hairless or hairy. Young stems with hairs to 1 mm long. Leaves 0.5-6 cm long, 2–10 mm wide. Leaf stalks and the lower surface of the leaves hairy. Female flowers 3–4 mm long. Flowers 2–10 in each head. Bracts 2-7 mm long. Flowers September.
(subsp. pubescens) Endangered NSW. Provisions of the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 No 63 relating to the protection of protected plants generally also apply to plants that are a threatened species.
(subsp. pubescens) Sensitive Species list NSW.
NSW Threatened Species profile (subsp. pubescens): http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=20055 (accessed 7 January, 2021)
PlantNET description of species and key to subspecies: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Pimelea~axiflora (accessed 7 January, 2021)
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