Conospermum acerosum Lindl.
Conospermum acerosum (Needle-leaved Smokebush) is an erect or straggly shrub growing to 1.7 m tall and, as the common name suggests, it has slender, needle-like leaves up to 10 cm long. The showy flowers displayed in axillary clusters are white, often with a shortly hairy pink to red tube and appear in late winter and spring.
The species was first described in John Lindley's 1839 A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony, based on specimens collected by James Drummond. Lindley referred to it as a "strange species" that "might be mistaken for a Colletia" (Rhamnaceae).
Needle-leaved Smokebush is widespread in sandy soil from the Murchison River south to Cape Leeuwin.
Photo: R. Davis