''Lechenaultia divaricata'', commonly known as tangled leschenaultia, wirenetting bush or wirebush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to arid and semi-arid areas of central Australia.

Description

''Lechenaultia divaricata'' is an erect subshrub that typically grows to a height of up to and has many spreading branches and glabrous foliage. The leaves are reduced to scattered, membrane-like, triangular scales long. The flowers are arranged singly on the ends of branchlets, the sepals long. The petals are creamy-white to yellow, long, the wings on the lower petal lobes triangular, wide and fringed, on the upper lobes up to wide. Flowering occurs sporadically throughout the year and the fruit is a cylindrical capsule long.

Taxonomy

''Lechenaultia divaricata'' was first formally described in 1862 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 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 Vict ...

in '' Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae'' from specimens collected near Coopers Creek. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''divaricata'') means "widely-spreading".

Distribution and habitat

Tangled leschenaultia grows in sand, often on sand dunes in mulga scrub and woodland in arid and semi-arid areas of inland South Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17480187 divaricata Plants described in 1862 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Flora of South Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales