About Pimelea stricta Meisn.
Pimelea stricta Meisn., commonly known as gaunt rice-flower, is an erect shrub. It typically reaches a height of 0.5 to 1.5 meters (1 foot 8 inches to 4 feet 11 inches), and its stems are glabrous. Its leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, are narrowly elliptic or linear, 5 to 35 millimeters (0.20 to 1.38 inches) long, and 1.0 to 4.5 millimeters (0.039 to 0.177 inches) wide, and grow on a short petiole. This species produces bisexual flowers, which are held in compact clusters. Each cluster contains many hairy, creamy-white to yellow flowers, and is surrounded by 4 egg-shaped involucral bracts. The bracts measure 5 to 13 millimeters (0.20 to 0.51 inches) long and 3 to 9 millimeters (0.12 to 0.35 inches) wide, are medium green, and sometimes have a yellowish or reddish tinge. The floral tube is 7 to 12 millimeters (0.28 to 0.47 inches) long, and the sepals are 2 to 4 millimeters (0.079 to 0.157 inches) long. Flowering occurs in most months, with a peak flowering period between August and November. Gaunt rice-flower mainly grows in sandy soils in open woodland, mallee, or on hills. It is distributed from north-eastern New South Wales through Victoria to the Eyre Peninsula and Flinders Ranges in south-eastern South Australia.
