''Styphelia lissanthoides'' is a species of flowering plant in the heath family

Ericaceae The Ericaceae () are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with about 4,250 known species spread acros ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the south of Western Australia. It is an erect, bushy shrub with egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and white, tube-shaped flowers arranged singly or in pairs in leaf axils.

Description

''Styphelia lissanthoides'' is an erect, bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of about and has more or less

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

branches. Its leaves are egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base and mostly about long on a distinct

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

, and have fine veins. The flowers are borne singly or in pairs on a very short peduncle. There are very small

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s and

bracteoles In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

scarcely one-third as long as the

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s. The sepals are about long and the petals are long and joined at the base to form a tube, the lobes much shorter than the petal tube.

Taxonomy

This species was first described in 1864 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria, Australia ...

who gave it the name ''Leucopogon lissanthoides'' in his ''

Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae ''Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae'' is a series of papers written by the Victorian Government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in which he published many of his approximately 2000 descriptions of new taxa of Australian plants. Including the p ...

'' from a specimen collected by

George Maxwell George Maxwell (1804–1880) was a professional collector of plants and insects in Southwest Australia. The botanical specimens he obtained were used to make formal descriptions of the region's plant species. Biography Maxwell was born in England ...

near a tributary of the

Phillips River The Phillips River is an ephemeral river in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia. Its headwaters rise on the sandplains below Mount Madden and flow in a southerly direction, crossing the South Coast Highway approximately west ...

. In 1867, von Mueller transferred the species to ''

Styphelia ''Styphelia'' is a genus of shrubs in the family Ericaceae, native from Mainland Southeast Asia, Indo-China through the Pacific to Australia. Most have minute or small leaves with a sharp tip, single, tube-shaped flowers arranged in leaf ...

'' as ''S. lissanthoides'' in later volume of the same book. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''lissanthoides'') means "''

Lissanthe ''Lissanthe'' is a genus of about 10 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae and is endemic to Australia. Plants in the genus ''Lissanthe'' are small, erect to spreading shrubs with egg-shaped to oblong leaves. Up to 17 Monoicy, bisex ...

''-like". This species was first formally described in 1859 as ''Leucopogon cuneifolius'' by

Sergei Sergeyevich Sheglejev Sergei Sergeyevich Shchegléiev (; 1820–1859) was a Russian botanist, Ph.D. in botany, and associate professor at the Department of Botany at the National University of Kharkiv. He was a taxonomist specialist of the family Epacridaceae, with a ...

in the ''Bulletin de la Société impériale des naturalistes de Moscou''. The

(''cuneifolius'') means "wedge-leaved".

Distribution

This styphelia occurs in the

Avon Wheatbelt The Avon Wheatbelt is a bioregion in Western Australia. It has an area of . It is considered part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion. Geography The Avon Wheatbelt bioregion is mostly a gently undulating landscape with low rel ...

, Coolgardie,

Esperance Plains Esperance Plains, also known as Eyre Botanical District, is a biogeography, biogeographic region in southern Western Australia on the South_coast_of_Western_Australia , south coast between the Avon Wheatbelt and Hampton bioregions, and bordere ...

and Mallee bioregions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Styphelia lissanthoides'' is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Government of Western Australia, Western Australian government department responsible for managing lands and waters described in the ''Conservation and Land Management A ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q65950071, from2=Q17241095 lissanthoides Ericales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1864 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller