Stenanthemum humile

Stenanthemum humile is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a low, erect perennial herb or shrub with white, woolly-hairy young stems, linear to narrowly elliptic leaves and densely, woolly-hairy heads of tube-shaped flowers.

Description
Stenanthemum humile is an upright, perennial herb or shrub that typically grows to a height of 5–20 cm and has its young stems covered with white, woolly hairs. Its leaves are usually linear, sometimes narrowly egg-shaped to narrowly elliptic, mostly 6–10 mm long and 1–2 mm wide on a petiole 1.5–3.5 mm long. There are egg-shaped or rectangular stipules 4–6 mm long forming a sheath around the stems. The edges of the leaves are rolled under. The flowers are arranged in heads of up to fifty, 10–15 mm wide. The floral tube is 2.5–5 mm long, 0.8–1.5 mm wide and woolly hairy, the sepals 0.7–1.0 mm long and densely woolly-hairy, and the petals 0.5–0.6 mm long. Flowering occurs from August to November, and the fruit is 2.0–2.4 mm long.

Taxonomy and naming
Stenanthemum humile was first formally described in 1863 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis from specimens collected by James Drummond between the Moore and Murchison Rivers. The specific epithet (humile) means "low" or "small".

Distribution and habitat
This species grows in low heath, shrubland or woodland on sand, mainly between Three Springs and Regans Ford with an outlier near Perth, in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status
Stenanthemum humile is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.