Hairy Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus helipteroides)

PtilotusCotton Bush (Ptilotus obovatus) Hairy Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus helipteroides) Large Green Pussytail (Ptilotus macrocephalus) Longtail (Ptilotus polystachyus) Red Pussytail (Ptilotus polystachyus) Shrubby Fox-tail (Ptilotus whitei) Tall Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus exaltatus)

The Hairy Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus helipteroides) is one of the dainty looking mulla mulla with a purple-red or deep pink to lilac pussytail, that starts with a globular shape and a tuft at the top, then elongating slightly to about 3 x 2 cm. The flower appears on a long stem, well above the leaves.

It is an annual with several erect stems. The plant has copious silver-grey hairs, especially on the young shoots. The spikes pedunculate (stalk bearing a flower), with iridescent, lilac-purple to mauve and pinkish-red colour; bract and shorter bracteoles are silvery.

They are found growing on stony ground, low slopes to red sand, this is an ephemeral herb that appears after rain. Amazing to see in a mass flowering wildflower event.

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Ptilotus
Species: P. helipteroides
Binomial name: Ptilotus helipteroides

FloraFlora Index Acacia Annual Yellowtop Apium prostratum subsp. prostratum var filiforme Apple Bush (Pterocaulon sphacelatum) Australian Bluebell Australian Gossypium Banksia Batswing Coral Tree Billy Buttons Birdsville Indigo Blue Pincushion Bush Banana Callistemon Calothamnus quadrifidus Cape Honeysuckle Common Heath Cassia fistula (Golden Shower) Cattle Bush Crotalaria Daviesia oppositifolia (Rattle-pea) Desert Oaks Drumsticks Eremophila Eucalyptus False Shaggy Mane Ficus Flannel Cudweed (Actinobole uliginosum) Georges Indigo Goatshead Burr (Sclerolaena bicornis) Golden Everlasting Goodenia Gossypium Grass and Grasses Grass Trees Grevillea Grey Germander Hakea Kapok Bush (Aerva javanica) Lambertia sp MacDonnell Ranges Cycad Maireana scleroptera Mexican Poppy Minnie Daisy Mistletoe Family Native Apricot Nardoo Nicotiana megalosiphon subspecies sessilifolia Nuytsia floribunda Orange Spade Flower Orchidaceae Parakeelyas (Calandrinia) Pebble Bush (Stylobasium spathulatum) Perennial Yellow Top Pink Everlasting Pink Rock Wort Poached Egg Daisy Portulaca Proteaceae Ptilotus Quandong Resurrection Fern Rosy Dock Ruby Saltbush Santalum Solanum Spike Centaury Spinifex Storkbill (Erodum cygnorum) Striped Mint Bush Sturt’s Desert Pea Sturt’s Desert Rose Tall Saltbush Tangled Leschenaultia Tar Vine Tribulus eichlerianus Upside-down Plant Urodon dasyphylla Variable Daisy Waratah (Telopea) Wertabona Daisy White Cedar (Melia azedarach) White Indigo White Paper Daisy Wild Passionfruit Wild Stock Woolly-Headed Burr Daisy Woolly Bush Yellow-keeled Swainsona