Description: Shrubs, ± covered, at least when young, with silvery to rust-coloured, circular to stellate scales, unarmed; branchlets often glandular-warty.
Leaves alternate, simple, glandular-punctate and often glandular-warty, margins entire or toothed.
Inflorescences terminal, umbellate or flowers solitary; bracteoles basal to pedicels and insignificant. Flowers bisexual, mostly 5-merous, to 8-merous in P. nottii. Calyx usually 5-lobed, scaly outside. Petals usually 5, free, imbricate, yellow, white or pink, scaly on the outside,apex not inflexed. Stamens usually 10, free; filaments slender-terete; anthers basifixed, apex with a prominent spherical gland. Carpels usually 5, scaly, style terete; stigma small with shortly spreading lobes; ovules 2 per carpel.
Fruit of 1–5 cocci; cocci not transversely ridged, with a rounded or beaked apex; seeds oblong-reniform, surface longitudinally striate or corrugate, black.
Distribution and occurrence: World: 25 spp., endemic Aust., all States except N.T.
Text by P.H. Weston & G.J. Harden
Taxon concept:
Taxa not yet included in identification key
Phebalium bifidum,
Phebalium bullatum,
Phebalium graniticola,
Phebalium stellatum,
Phebalium sylvaticum,
Phebalium verrucosum
| | Key to the species | |
| 1 | Corolla pink; flowers 5–8 merous | 2 |
| Corolla white or bright yellow, sometimes ageing pink; flowers 5-merous | 3 |
| 2 | Leaves >7 mm wide, lanceolate or elliptic | Phebalium speciosum |
| Leaves <5 mm wide, narrow elliptic
Back to 1 | Phebalium nottii |
| 3 | Leaves 2–3.5 mm long, broad-obovate to obcordate | Phebalium obcordatum |
| Leaves mostly >4 mm long, variously shaped
Back to 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Calyx c. 3 mm long, deeply dissected with triangular lobes c. 1.5 mm long; leaves smooth, without prominent glands, 15–60 mm long; corolla white or rarely pink | Phebalium woombye |
| Calyx <2 mm long, margin truncate to undulate, or if lobed then either stems and upper surface of leaves with prominently raised glands, or leaves <12 mm long; corolla pale to bright yellow, or rarely white
Back to 3 | 5 |
| 5 | Leaves glandular-warty above, usually with glandular-undulate to crenate margins | 6 |
| Leaves smooth, with entire, straight margins, glands punctate, not prominently raised
Back to 4 | 7 |
| 6 | Leaves cuneate to linear-cuneate | Phebalium glandulosum |
| Leaves oblong to linear or narrow-elliptic
Back to 5 | Phebalium squamulosum |
| 7 | Leaves with midvein not apparent above, 0.8–2 mm wide, linear to narrow-oblong, with recurved to tightly revolute margins | Phebalium stenophyllum |
| Leaves either with midvein slightly to strongly impressed above, or >2 mm wide, variously shaped, with flat to revolute margins
Back to 5 | Phebalium squamulosum |
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