Allocasuarina eriochlamys

Allocasuarina eriochlamys is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to inland areas of Western Australia. It is a dense, erect, monoecious or dioecious shrub that has more or less erect branchlets, its leaves reduced to scales in whorls of eight to ten, the mature fruiting cones 20–45 mm long containing winged seeds (samaras) 5.0–10.5 mm long.

Description
Allocasuarina eriochlamys is an dense, erect, monoecious or dioecious shrub that typically grows to a height of 1–3 m. Its branchlets are more or less erect, up to 230 mm long, the leaves reduced to scale-like teeth usually 0.3–1 mm long, arranged in whorls of eight to ten around the branchlets. The sections of branchlet between the leaf whorls (the "articles") are mostly 5–18 mm long and 0.5–1.1 mm wide. Male flowers are arranged in spikes 10–35 mm long, in whorls of 7 to 11 per centimetre (per 0.39 in.), the anthers 0.6–0.8 mm long. Female cones are cylindrical on a peduncle 4–15 mm long, and mature cones are 20–45 mm long and 13–21 mm in diameter containing black samaras 5.0–10.5 mm long.

Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1972 by Lawrie Johnson who gave it the name Casuarina campestris subsp. eriochlamys in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected by John Thomas Jutson near Comet Vale in 1917. In 1982 Johnson reclassified it as Allocasuarina campestris subsp. eriochlamys in the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens and in 1989 raised it to species status in the Flora of Australia. The specific epithet (eriochlamys) means a woolly cloak", referring to the fruiting cones.

In the same volume of Flora of Australia, Johnson described two subspecies of A. eriochlamys, and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
 * Allocasuarina eriochlamys (L.A.S.Johnson) L.A.S.Johnson subsp. eriochlamys has articles 5–14 mm long and 0.5–0.9 mm wide, male spikes 10–34 mm long, and mature cones 23–39 mm long on a peduncle 4–13 mm long.
 * Allocasuarina eriochlamys subsp. grossa (L.A.S.Johnson) L.A.S.Johnson has articles 9–18 mm long and 0.8–1.1 mm wide, male spikes 16–35 mm long, and mature cones 20–38 mm long on a peduncle 4–15 mm long.

Distribution and habitat
Subspecies eriochlamys grows in mallee woodland on stony slopes between Comet Vale and Kalgoorlie in the Coolgardie and Murchison bioregions and subsp. grossa grows around granite outcrops, mainly near Norseman in the Coolgardie and Nullarbor bioregions of Western Australia.

Conservation status
Subspecies eriochlamys is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, but subsp. grossa is listed as "Priority Three", meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.