About Philotheca spicata (A.Rich.) Paul G.Wilson
Philotheca spicata, commonly known as pepper and salt, is a shrub that usually grows 30 to 60 cm (12 to 24 inches) tall, and has smooth branchlets. Its leaves are linear to narrowly elliptical, 6 to 20 mm (0.24 to 0.79 inches) long, and concave on their upper surface. The flowers are arranged in leafless, many-flowered racemes that can reach 15 cm (5.9 inches) or more in length. Each flower sits on a thin pedicel 7 mm (0.28 inches) long, with broadly elliptical bracts at the base of the pedicel. This species has five triangular sepals around 1.5 mm (0.059 inches) long, five broadly elliptical petals around 4.5 mm (0.18 inches) long, and ten stamens 2 to 2.5 mm (0.079 to 0.098 inches) long. Flowering takes place from June to November, and the resulting fruit is around 3 mm (0.12 inches) long, with two small teeth at its tip. In terms of distribution and habitat, Philotheca spicata grows in sand or loam that overlies laterite, and is found between Eneabba and Albany in the south-west of Western Australia.
