Skip to main content

Service Notice

The Western Australian Herbarium’s collections management system, WAHerb, and DBCA’s flora taxonomic names application, WACensus, have been set to read-only mode since 1 October 2025. Recent taxonomic changes are not currently being reflected in Florabase, herbarium collections, or the census. Due to the rapidly approaching holiday season and associated agency and facility soft closures, along with the substantial work involved in data mapping, cleaning, and verification, the migration to the new collection management software is not expected to occur before 1 March 2026, when a further update will be provided. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

The notice period started at 9:45 am on Friday, 12 December 2025 +08:00 and will end at 12:00 pm on Monday, 2 March 2026 +08:00.

Lawrencia squamata Nees

Reference
Pl.Preiss. [J.G.C.Lehmann] 1:242 (1845)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Erect, rounded, spinescent shrub, 0.2-1(-1.5) m high. Fl. white-yellow/red-purple, mostly Aug to Dec or Jan. Sandy soils, gypsum, limestone. Saline flats & depressions, tidal flats & coastal inlets, salt lakes.

Grazyna Paczkowska, Descriptive Catalogue, 24 September 1996
Image

Scientific Description

Shrub, with glabrous or scaly stems. Leaves 3-5 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, not lobed; margins entire; hairywith scales scales, Sessile glands absent; stipules present and persistent to older leaves. Perianth clearly of two whorls (calyx and corolla), the corolla obvious and prominent. Pedicel absent (flower sessile). Epicalyx (extra segments or 'bracteoles' immediately below the calyx) absent. Calyx 3-3.2 mm long, the lobes fused half or more of their length, Sessile glands absent, simple hairs (without tubercle bases) absent, stellate hairs absent, gland-tipped hairs absent, scales scales present, Terminal appendages absent, number of ribs absent. Corolla yellow, white, red or purple, 3.2-4 mm long, glabrous. Indumentum (outside) Sessile glands absent. Stamens many, united and arising from a staminal tube around the style; filaments present, 0-0.2 mm long; anthers 0-0.4 mm long, indumentum absent (anthers glabrous). Staminodes absent, appendages absent. Ovary hairs and scales absent (ovary quite glabrous); style 1, 3.2-4 mm long, with one or numerous style branches or lobes, mostly glabrous, wing absent. Flowering time January, August, September, October, November or December. Distribution Botanical Province Eremaean or South-West, IBRA Bioregion Great Sandy Desert, Gascoyne, Yalgoo, Murchison, Great Victorian Desert, Coolgardie, Nullarbor, Hamton, Geraldton Sandplains, Swan Coastal Plain, Avon Wheatbelt, Mallee and Esperance.

C. Hollister and K.R. Thiele, 11 August 2023

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Esperance Plains, Gascoyne, Geraldton Sandplains, Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria Desert, Hampton, Little Sandy Desert, Mallee, Murchison, Nullarbor, Swan Coastal Plain, Yalgoo.
IBRA Subregions
Carnegie, Central, Eastern Goldfield, Eastern Mallee, Eastern Murchison, Fitzgerald, Geraldton Hills, Hampton, Katanning, Lesueur Sandplain, Mackay, Mardabilla, Merredin, Nullarbor Plain, Perth, Recherche, Shield, Southern Cross, Tallering, Trainor, Western Mallee, Western Murchison.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Albany, Canning, Carnamah, Chapman Valley, Coorow, Corrigin, Cranbrook, Cunderdin, Dalwallinu, Dandaragan, Dumbleyung, Dundas, East Pilbara, Esperance, Gnowangerup, Gosnells, Greater Geraldton, Jerramungup, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Kent, Kondinin, Koorda, Kulin, Lake Grace, Laverton, Leonora, Menzies, Mingenew, Morawa, Mount Marshall, Murchison, Perenjori, Plantagenet, Ravensthorpe, Sandstone, Swan, Three Springs, Wiluna, Wongan-Ballidu, Yalgoo, Yilgarn.