Styphelia cordifolia
| Styphelia cordifolia | |
|---|---|
| |
| In the Australian National Botanic Gardens | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Styphelia |
| Species: | S. cordifolia
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| Binomial name | |
| Styphelia cordifolia | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Styphelia cordifolia, commonly known as heart-leaved beard-heath,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is an erect shrub with broadly egg-shaped to round leaves, and white, tube-shaped flowers, the petals bearded on the inside.
Description[edit]
Styphelia cordifolia is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.8–1.5 m (2 ft 7 in – 4 ft 11 in) and has softly-hairy branchlets. Its leaves are broadly egg-shaped to round, 3.5–7 mm (0.14–0.28 in) long and 4–8 mm (0.16–0.31 in) wide and curve downwards with a short bristle on the tip. The flowers are arranged in spikes 5.5–8.5 mm (0.22–0.33 in) long in leaf axils, each spike with up to three flowers with broadly egg-shaped to round bracteoles 1.8–2.3 mm (0.071–0.091 in) long at the base. The sepals are egg-shaped, 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long, the petals white and joined at the base to form a tube 2.8–4.1 mm (0.11–0.16 in) long, the lobes 2.4–2.8 mm (0.094–0.110 in) long and bearded on the inside.[2][3]
Taxonomy[edit]
Styphelia cordifolia was first formally described in 1838 by John Lindley and given the name Leucopogon cordifolius in Thomas Mitchell's journal, Three Expeditions into the interior of Eastern Australia.[4][5] In 1873, Ferdinand von Mueller transferred the species to Styphelia as S. cordifolia in his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. The specific epithet (cordifolia) means "heart-leaved".[6]
Distribution and habitat[edit]
Heart-leaved beard-heath grows in the understorey of woodland and in heathland in the far north-west of Victoria, the south-east of South Australia, and disjunctly in the Carnarvon, Geraldton Sandplains, Yalgoo bioregions in the west of Western Australia.[2][3][7]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Styphelia cordifolia". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
- ^ a b c "Leucopogon cordifolius". State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ a b Walsh, Neville G. "Styphelia cordifolia". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ "Leucopogon cordifolius". APNI. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ Mitchell, Thomas L. (1839). Three expeditions into the interior of eastern Australia (Second ed.). London. p. 122. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 170. ISBN 9780958034180.
- ^ "Styphelia cordifolia". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.