The genus Pimelea Banks & Sol. ex Gaertn. consists of approximately 125 species (Rye 1990(Rye , 1999Copeland & Telford 2006;Burrows 2011). Of these species, 90 are endemic to Australia (Rye 1990(Rye ,1999Copeland & Telford 2006) and a further 35 species occur in New Zealand (Burrows 2011). In Tasmania, the genus is represented by 18 species, seven of which are endemic to the state, including the novel species described here (de Salas & Baker 2015).Rye's (1990) treatment of Australian Pimelea divided the genus into seven infrageneric sections. Rye (1999) later suggested that the boundaries of the proposed sections are unresolved and require work, particularly with addressing the placement of the New Zealand species. Burrows (2008Burrows ( , 2011 agreed, noting that some New Zealand species of Pimelea do not fit well with Rye's infrageneric classification, and as such it was not adopted for the species occurring in New Zealand. Instead, the New Zealand taxa were informally divided into two groups: those with leaf hair and those without (Burrows 2008). He later suggested that the genus originated in Australia and migrated to New Zealand where, unlike in Australia, it is rife with hybridisation between many species, complicating the taxonomy and species boundaries (Burrows 2011).Characteristics of the group that are useful as diagnostic features include phyllotaxy (opposite or alternate), indumentum of the leaf Pimelea leiophylla A.M.Gray & M.Baker sp. nov., a new species restricted to Freycinet Peninsula and Schouten Island,Tasmania is described and illustrated, and its distribution and habitat are discussed. The new species is most similar to Pimelea sericea R.Br. but differs chiefly by its leaves being hairy on the adaxial surface and by its opposite-decussate phyllotaxy. The species is uncommon and localised throughout its distribution range.
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