Conostylis breviscapa



Conostylis breviscapa is a rhizomatous, tufted perennial, grass-like plant or herb in the family Haemodoraceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has flat leaves and yellow, hairy, tubular flowers.

Description
Conostylis breviscapa is a tufted, perennial, grass-like plant or herb or multi-stemmed plant forming clumps 11–30 cm wide and up to 30 cm high. The leaves are flat, typically 70–300 mm long and 1–4 mm wide with feather-like hairs on the edges. The flower stem is up to 65 mm long, each flower on a pedicel 2.0–2.5 mm long. The flowers are 9.5–11 mm long and the perianth is yellow with six more or less equal tepals, the inner segments 4.5–7.5 mm long. There are six stamens and the style is 4.0–4.8 mm long. Flowering occurs from August to December or January.

Taxonomy and naming
Conostylis breviscapa was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen. The specific epithet (breviscapa) means "short stalk".

Distribution and habitat
This conostylis grows in mallee in sandy soil between Jerdacuttup and near Esperance in the Esperance Plains bioregion of southern Western Australia.