Philotheca spicata , commonly known as Pepper and Salt, is a shrub in the family Rutaceae

Rutaceae

Rutaceae, commonly known as the rue or citrus family, is a family of flowering plants, usually placed in the order Sapindales.Species of the family generally have flowers that divide into four or five parts, usually with strong scents...

. The species is endemic to south-west of 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...

. It usually grows to between 0.2 and 0.6 metres in height, and produces pink flowers from June to November in its native range.

The species was first described in 1834 by French botanist Achille Richard

Achille Richard

Achille Richard was a French botanist and physician .He was son of a notable botanist, Louis-Claude Marie Richard .Pharmacist in the French fleet and member of several well-known societies of their time....

 who gave it the name Erisotemon spicatum, later amended to Eriostemon spicatus. It was transferred to the genus Philotheca

Philotheca

Philotheca is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Rutaceae. Many plants formerly in Eriostemon are now in this genus....

by Paul G. Wilson in 1998.

Distribution

The species occurs for the most part within the Southwest Australia biogeographic region

Southwest Australia

Southwest Australia is a biodiversity hotspot that includes the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregions of Western Australia. The region has a wet-winter, dry-summer Mediterranean climate, one of five such regions in the world...

, although an outlying population occurs in the nearby Coolgardie region

Coolgardie (biogeographic region)

Coolgardie is an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia region and a World Wildlife Fund ecoregion consisting of an area of low hills and plains of infertile sandy soil in Western Australia. -Location and description:...

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