Ptilotus semilanatus is a clumping, erect to low-lying perennial herb in the Amaranthaceae family and is endemic to mostly inland areas of eastern Australia. It usually has mostly hairy stems arising from a woody rootstock, lance-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and pink to mauve spikes of densely arranged flowers.
Description Ptilotus semilanatus is a clumping, erect to low-lying perennial herb that typically grows to a height of high and has mostly hairy stems arising from a woody rootstock. The leaves at the base of the plant are lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, up to long and wide. The stem leaves are similar but shorter and up to wide. The flowers are pink to mauve and densely arranged on an erect, usually hemispherical or oval spike long and in diameter. There are egg-shaped bracts long and similarly sized, broadly egg-shaped bracteoles at the base of the spikes. The perianth is long and covered with long silky hairs, the inner surface mostly glabrous. There are three fertile stamens, the ovary has a few soft hairs on its top, and the style is long. Flowering occurs from October to January.
Taxonomy This species was first described in 1848 by John Lindley who gave it the name Trichinium semilanatum in Thomas Mitchell's Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia. In 1948 John McConnell Black reassigned the species to the genus Ptilotus as P. semilanatum after an unpublished manuscript by Ferdinand von Mueller.Black, J.M. (January 1948), Casuarinaceae-Euphorbiaceae. Flora of South Australia Edn. 2, 2: 327-328
Distribution and habitat Ptilotus semilanatus is endemic to eastern Australia where it is found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is widespread in woodlands or grassland on plains where it grows on loamy or clayey soils.
References
External links Ptilotus semilanatus occurrence data from the Australasian Virtual Herbarium