Leucopogon tetragonus is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a robust shrub with crowded, often decussate, oblong to lance-shaped leaves and short, dense spikes of white, tube-shaped flowers.
| Leucopogon tetragonus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Leucopogon |
| Species: | L. tetragonus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Leucopogon tetragonus | |
| |
| Occurrence data from AVH | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Styphelia tetragona (Sond.) F.Muell. | |
Description
editLeucopogon tetragonus is a robust shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.3–1 m (1 ft 0 in – 3 ft 3 in) and has softly-hairy branches. Its leaves are crowded, often decussate, oblong to lance-shaped, 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long and covered with long hairs. The flowers are borne on the ends of branches in short, dense spikes. At the base of the flowers there are small, leaf-like bracts that are longer than the bracteoles, the bracteoles about half as long as the sepals. The sepals are about 2 mm (0.079 in) long, the petals white, about 4 mm (0.16 in) long and joined at the base, forming a tube, the petal lobes longer than the petal tube. Flowering occurs in November and December or January.[2][3]
Taxonomy
editLeucopogon tetragonus was first formally described in 1845 by Otto Wilhelm Sonder in Lehmann's Plantae Preissianae from specimens collected near Cape Riche in 1840.[4][5] The specific epithet, (tetragonus) refers to the decussate leaves.[6]
Distribution and habitat
editThis leucopogon grows on rocky ridges and breakaways in shallow soil in the Esperance Plains bioregion of southern Western Australia.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b "Leucopogon tetragonus". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ^ Bentham, George (1868). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 4. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 193. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ^ a b "Leucopogon tetragonus". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ "Leucopogon tetragonus". APNI. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
- ^ Meissner, Carl (1845). Lehmann, Johann G.C. (ed.). Plantae Preissianae. Vol. 1. Hamburg: Sumptibus Meissneri. p. 317. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 323. ISBN 9780958034180.