Petrophile linearis



Petrophile linearis, commonly known as pixie mops, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to southwestern Western Australia. It is a shrub with narrow egg-shaped leaves, the narrower end towards the base, and oval to spherical heads of hairy, greyish-pink or mauve to almost white flowers.

Description
Petrophile linearis is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.5–1 m and has glabrous branchlets and leaves. The leaves are narrow egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 50–120 mm long, 1.5–10 mm wide and usually curved. The flowers are arranged on the ends of branchlets or in leaf axils in sessile, oval to spherical heads up to 25 mm in diameter, with many linear, tapering involucral bracts at the base. The flowers are up to 35 mm long, hairy, greyish-pink or mauve to almost white. Flowering occurs from August to November and the fruit is a nut, fused with others in an oval head about 25 mm long.

Taxonomy
Petrophile linearis was first formally described in 1830 by Robert Brown in the Supplementum to his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen from material collected by Charles Fraser near the Swan River in 1826. The specific epithet (linearis) refers to the linear leaves.

Distribution and habitat
Pixie mops grows in woodland and heath on the coastal plain and Darling Range from Jurien Bay and Eneabba to Yallingup.

Conservation status
This petrophile is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.