Pseudanthus ovalifolius

Pseudanthus ovalifolius, commonly known as oval-leaf pseudanthus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Picrodendraceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a spreading to compact, wiry, monoecious shrub with oval leaves and whitish flowers arranged singly in upper leaf axils, but sometimes appearing clustered on the ends of branches.

Description
Pseudanthus ovalifolius is a spreading to compact, wiry monoecious shrub that typically grows to a height of 30 cm and has glabrous branchlets. Its leaves are oval, elliptic or more or less round, 2.2–5.0 mm long and 1.0–2.1 mm wide on a petiole 0.1–0.4 mm long with reddish-brown, broadly triangular stipules 0.5–0.9 mm long at the base. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils, but sometimes appear clustered on the ends of branches with egg-shaped bracts 1.0–1.5 mm long at the base. Male flowers are on a pedicel 0.5–1.3 mm long, the 6 tepals narrowly oblong to oblong and whitish, 1.3–3.4 mm long and 0.5–0.8 mm wide and there are 6 stamens. Female flowers are sessile, the 5 or 6 tepals reddish-brown and creamy white, 1.1–2.2 mm long and 0.2–0.6 mm wide. Flowering has been observed from February to November, and the fruit is a green, oval capsule 3.5–4.0 mm long.

Taxonomy and naming
Pseudanthus ovalifolius was first formally described in 1857 by Ferdinand von Mueller in Transactions of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria. The specific epithet (ovalifolius) means "oval-leaved".

Distribution and habitat
This species of shrub grows on rocky hillsides in heath, shrubland and mallee in scattered locations from near Eden in New South Wales, in the Grampians, near Bendigo and Ballarat in Victoria, and on Cape Barren and Flinders Islands in Tasmania.

Conservation status
Pseudanthus ovalifolius is listed as "vulnerable" under the Victorian Government Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and as "endangered" under the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. The main threats to the species include land clearing, grazing by domestic stock and feral goats, and inappropriate fire regimes.