SMOOTH RICEFLOWER

(Pimelea glauca)

(Photos: E. Cousins; growth habit, flower cluster; Cape Jervis)

Come spring, you will see this little shrub flowering freely around Cape Jervis. It has 1 cm long blue green leaves, which are arranged very symmetrically around the many stems. The tiny, creamy-white flowers are arranged in balls about 3cm wide, at the end of those stems … you can see how many little flowers there can be in a flower cluster in the second photo above. Each little flower has 4 petals and yellow-tipped stamens. Under each cluster you will find four leaves (called floral leaves) which are slightly larger than the stem leaves; the inner two should have hairy edges. So look for tidy little shrubs covered in white this spring as you walk around Cape Jervis, and see if you can identify this riceflower.