Lasiopetalum membranaceum

Lasiopetalum membranaceum is an erect, spreading shrub or subshrub that typically grows to a height of 30–50 cm (12–20 in) and has its young stems densely covered with star-shaped hairs. The leaves are pliable, egg-shaped, mostly 19–39 mm (0.75–1.54 in) long and 11–27 mm (0.43–1.06 in) wide on a petiole 10–21 mm (0.39–0.83 in) long, the upper surface more or less glabrous and the lower surface covered with star-shaped hairs. The flowers are borne in loose groups of seven to fourteen flowers, the groups 38–81 mm (1.5–3.2 in) long on a peduncle 19–31 mm (0.75–1.22 in) long, each flower on a pedicel 4.2–9.5 mm (0.17–0.37 in) long with egg-shaped, mauve-pink bracteoles 3.2–6.5 mm (0.13–0.26 in) long below the base of the sepals. The sepals are also mauve-pink with a dark red base, 5.3–6.3 mm (0.21–0.25 in) long with narrowly egg-shaped lobes 4.9–6.5 mm (0.19–0.26 in) long. There are no petals and the anthers are 1.4–1.9 mm (0.055–0.075 in) long on a filament 0.5–0.6 mm (0.020–0.024 in) long. Flowering occurs from September to December.[2][3]

This taxon was first formally described in 1845 by Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel who gave it the name Corethrostylis membranacea in Johann Georg Christian Lehmann's Plantae Preissianae.[4][5] In 1863, George Bentham changed the name to Lasiopetalum membranaceum in Flora Australiensis.[6] The specific epithet (membranaceum) means "membranous", referring to the leaves.[7]

This lasiopetalum grows in forest or woodland in near-coastal areas and occurs from Perth (including in Kings Park) to near Augusta in the Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren biogeographic area of southern Western Australia.[2]

Lasiopetalum membranaceum is listed as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions,[2] meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.[8]