Leucopogon pilifer
| Leucopogon pilifer | |
|---|---|
| |
| In the South East Forests National Park | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Leucopogon |
| Species: | L. pilifer
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| Binomial name | |
| Leucopogon pilifer | |
| |
| Occurrence data from AVH | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Leucopogon pilifer, commonly known as thready beard-heath,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a low-lying, dwarf, often mat-forming shrub with long branches, oblong to lance-shaped leaves and crowded, white spikes of densely bearded flowers arranged in groups of between 4 and 9.
Description[edit]
Leucopogon pilifer is a low-lying, dwarf shrub with branches up to about 30 m (98 ft) long, and that often forms mats, its young branchlets densely covered with soft hairs. The leaves are more or less erect, oblong to lance-shaped, 3.1–7.3 mm (0.12–0.29 in) long and 0.7–1.3 mm (0.028–0.051 in) wide on a petiole up to 0.5 mm (0.020 in) long. The leaves are more or less glabrous, with 3 to 5, more or less parallel veins visible on the lower surface. The flowers are erect and arranged on the ends of branches and in upper leaf axils in groups of between 4 and 9 with white bracteoles 0.9–1 mm (0.035–0.039 in) long. The sepals are egg-shaped, 1.4–1.6 mm (0.055–0.063 in) long, and the petals are white, 0.9–1.2 mm (0.035–0.047 in) long and joined at the base, forming a tube, with densely bearded lobes about 1.0 mm (0.039 in) long. Flowering occurs from October to February, and the fruit is a glabrous, slightly ridged drupe 1.5–2.0 mm (0.059–0.079 in) long.[2][3][4]
Taxonomy[edit]
Leucopogon pilifer was first formally described in 1859 by Norman Arthur Wakefield in The Victorian Naturalist from specimens collected by James Hamlyn Willis on the Bogong High Plains in 1947.[4][5] The specific epithet (pilifer) means "bearing hairs".[6]
Distribution and habitat[edit]
Thready beard-heath grows in heath and shrubland at higher altitudes from near Barrington Tops in north-eastern New South Wales to the higher eastern ranges of Victoria, and on the Central Plateau of Tasmania.[2][3][7]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Leucopogon pilifer". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- ^ a b c Powell, Jocelyn M.; Walsh, Neville G.; Brown, Elizabeth A.; Stajsic, Val. "Leucopogon pilifer". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ a b Powell, Jocelyn M. "Leucopogon pilifer". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ a b Wakefield, Norman A. (1956). "Flora of Victoria: New species and other additions - 8". The Victorian Naturalist. 73 (3): 58–59. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ "Leucopogon pilifer". APNI. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 375. ISBN 9780958034180.
- ^ Jordan, Greg. "Leucopogon pilifer". University of Tasmania. Retrieved 7 April 2023.