Styphelia rectiloba

Styphelia rectiloba is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to a small area in the south of Western Australia. It is a spreading, compact shrub with hairy young branchlets, sharply-pointed egg-shaped leaves, and cream-coloured, tube-shaped flowers.

Description
Styphelia rectiloba is a spreading, compact shrub with hairy young branchlets, that typically grows to up to 1.5 m high and wide. Its leaves are egg-shaped, 6–11 mm long, 2.5–3.5 mm wide and sharply pointed, on a petiole 0.5–1.0 mm long. The flowers are arranged singly or in groups of up to 4 in leaf axils and are erect and sessile with egg-shaped bracts 0.7–1.2 mm long and bracteoles 1.8–2.5 mm long and 1.4–1.6 mm wide. The sepals are narrowly egg-shaped, 3.8–4.5 mm long and 1.4–1.7 mm wide and greenish at first, later brown. The petals are cream-coloured and joined at the base to form a tube 3.4–4.2 mm long and 1.3–1.6 mm wide, with lobes that are turned back and 2.4–3.2 mm long. Flowering has been observed between December and June, and the fruit is about 3.0–4.0 mm long and 1.5–2.0 mm wide.

Taxonomy
Styphelia rectiloba was first formally described in 2019 by Michael Hislop in the journal Nuytsia from specimens he collected near Kambalda in 2013. The specific epithet (rectiloba) means "straight lobes".

Distribution and habitat
This styphelia is only known from a few populations near Kambalda where it grows in open woodland or heath in rocky soils on or near granite breakaways in the Coolgardie bioregion of southern Western Australia.

Conservation status
Styphelia rectiloba is listed as "Priority Three" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.