Petrophile macrostachya is a perennial

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of shrub in the plant genus Petrophile

Petrophile

Petrophile is a genus of evergreen shrubs, in the protea family Proteaceae, which are endemic to Australia. Commonly known as Conebushes, they typically have prickly, divided foliage and produce prominently-displayed pink, yellow or cream flowers followed by grey, conical fruits...

. It is endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 to south-west Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

 growing on sandy and gravel soils from Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 through to north of Kalbarri.

Description

It grows as a spreading shrub to about one and a half metres in height. The lobed leaves are mucronulate (pointed). The apical (terminal) inflorescences of cream to white flowers appear from winter to late spring (July to November).

Taxonomy

This species was first published by Robert Brown

Robert Brown (botanist)

Robert Brown was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope...

 in his 1830 Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae

Supplementum Primum Prodromi Florae Novae Hollandiae

Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae is an 1830 supplement to Robert Brown's Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen. It may be referred to by its standard botanical abbreviation Suppl. Prodr. Fl. Nov...

.

Distribution and habitat

It occurs in south-west Western Australia from just south of Perth to north of Kalbarri, not extending far inland. The soils types are premoninantly sandy and sometimes gravelly.