Lasiopetalum maxwellii is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the south coast Western Australia. It is a sprawling shrub with hairy young stems, lance-shaped to oblong leaves and white to cream-coloured flowers.

Quick Facts Lasiopetalum maxwellii, Conservation status ...

Lasiopetalum maxwellii
In Maranoa Gardens
Conservation status
Priority Two — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Malvaceae
Genus:	Lasiopetalum
Species:	L. maxwellii
Binomial name
Lasiopetalum maxwellii F.Muell.[1]

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Lasiopetalum maxwellii is a sprawling shrub that typically grows to a height of 25–60 cm (9.8–23.6 in) and has hairy stems. The leaves are lance-shaped to oblong, 30–80 mm (1.2–3.1 in) long and 7–25 mm (0.28–0.98 in) wide and covered with star-shaped hairs. The flowers are borne in loose groups, each flower on a pedicel 1.2–3.0 mm (0.047–0.118 in) long with bracteoles 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) long below the base of the sepals. The sepals are cream-coloured or white, 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long and the petals reduced to small scales or absent. The anthers are 1.4–2.0 mm (0.055–0.079 in) long on a filament 0.5–0.7 mm (0.020–0.028 in) long. Flowering mainly occurs from September to January.^[2][3]

Lasiopetalum maxwellii was first formally described in 1881 by Ferdinand von Mueller in his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae from specimens collected by George Maxwell.^[3][4] The specific epithet (maxwellii) honours the collector of the type specimens.^[5]

This lasiopetalum grows on sandy soils of granitic slopes in near-coastal areas of the Esperance Plains biogeographic area of southern Western Australia.^[2]