Summer pimelea

Description:

Pimelea rara is a Summer flowering pimelea flowering during December to January. It grows in the lateritic soils in the Jarrah forests. As our first assignment as volunteers, we were asked to find and count how many of these plants grew in the Victoria Reservoir catchment. As new volunteers we were keen and didn't let the hot days deter us. We started early in the mornings and finished around lunchtime before the forest got too hot. At that time of the day (temperatures rose to 36 degrees C and higher), the surrounding bush started wilting and the leaves on the Pimelea plants turned up parallel with the stems. During cooler times of the day (mornings) the leaves were held out and away from the stems. No doubt this is part of its ability to survive and flower during the hot summers. The Pimelea rara plants often looked fresh and alive amongst other forest plants. We spent 3 months on the project and found the plants were much more plentiful and over a much larger area than previously thought. It was given the name "rara" because it wasn't seen very often and thought to be rare. At one time it hadn't been seen for many years and was thought to be extinct. It is still a plant that requires monitoring. Looking at some records, it was originally collected in January 1919 by WA Ress and not recollected until January 1987 by L Graham.