Ptilotus stipitatus is a species of flowering plant of the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to northern inland Western Australia. It is an erect, branched shrub with almost glabrous stems, narrowly egg-shaped leaves and solitary spikes of magenta or red flowers.
Description Ptilotus stipitatus is an erect, branched shrub that typically grows to a height of , its stems mostly glabrous and more or less covered with a powdery bloom when young. Its leaves are mostly narrowly lance-shaped, long and wide tapering to an undefined petiole. The flowers are borne in a magenta or red spike on the ends of branches, the spikes long and wide with about 40 flowers. The bracts are egg-shaped, long and wide and the bracteoles broadly egg-shaped, long and wide. The tepals are lance-shaped, the outer tepals long, and the inner tepals long and there are five stamens. The style is thread-like, long and fixed to the side of the club-shaped ovary, long. The seeds are glossy black and about long.
Taxonomy Ptilotus stipitatus was first formally described in 1980 by Gerhard Benl in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected north of Jigalong by Robert Dunlop Royce in 1947. The specific epithet (stipitatus) means stipitate, referring to the ovary.
Distribution and habitat This species of Ptilotus grows in sandy soil on sand dunes in the Gascoyne, Gibson Desert, Great Victoria Desert and Little Sandy Desert bioregions of inland northern Western Australia.
Conservation status Ptilotus stipitatus is listed as 'not threatened' by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
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