Leionema oldfieldii

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Leionema oldfieldii
Wild specimen growing on Gould's Plateau, Tasmania, Australia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Leionema
Species:
L. oldfieldii
Binomial name
Leionema oldfieldii

Leionema oldfieldii is a small shrub that is endemic to mountainous locations in Tasmania, Australia. It has dark green leaves, compact pale pink to white flowers from November to January.

Description[edit]

Leionema oldfieldii is a small, compact shrub to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) high. The branchlets are more or less needle-shaped, with usually star to upright shaped soft hairs. The leaves are leathery, smooth, shiny, egg-shaped to oblong-elliptic, 7–15 mm (0.28–0.59 in) long, 2.5–6 mm (0.098–0.236 in) wide, flat with slightly rolled edges and finely scalloped toward the rounded apex. The inflorescence is a tight group of terminal, pale pink to white flowers on a fleshy, smooth pedicel about 2.5 mm (0.098 in) long with two small bracteoles near the base. The petals are elliptic, spreading, about 4 mm (0.16 in) long and smooth. The stamens are slightly longer than the petals. Flowering occurs from late spring to early summer.[2]

Taxonomy[edit]

This species was first formally described in 1858 by Ferdinand von Mueller and gave it the name Eriostemon oldfieldii and the description was published in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae.[3][4] In 1998 Paul G. Wilson changed the name to Leionema oldfieldii and the name change was published in the journal Nuytsia.[5][6]

Distribution and habitat[edit]

Leionema oldfieldii grows in mountainous areas of the south and west coasts of Tasmania.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Leionema oldfieldii". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b Wilson, Paul G. "Leionema oldfieldii". Flora of Australia-online. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Eriostemon oldfieldii". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae". Biodiversity Heritage Library. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Leionema oldfieldii". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  6. ^ Wilson, Paul G. (1998). "New species and nomenclatural changes in Phebalium and related genera (Rutaceae)". Nuytsia. 12 (2): 276. Retrieved 29 June 2020.