''Lechenaultia filiformis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Goodeniaceae Goodeniaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Asterales. It contains about 404 species in twelve genera. The family is distributed mostly in Australia, except for the genus '' Scaevola'', which is pantropical. Its species are found a ...

and is native to northern Australia and New Guinea. It is a grasslike, ascending herb with scattered, narrow, fleshy leaves and pale purple-blue to creamy-white, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

''Lechenaultia filiformis'' is a grass-like, ascending herb with few branches and that typically grows to a height of up to . Its leaves are scattered, long, narrow and fleshy. The flowers are arranged in loose clusters, 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 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s long and the petals long, purple, pale blue or creamy-white, and joined at the base to form a white or yellow tube. The petal wings on the upper lobes are rounded, usually wide and on the lower lobes usually wide. Flowering occurs sporadically and the fruit is long.

Taxonomy

''Lechenaultia filiformis'' was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in his ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a flora of Australia written by botanist Robert Brown and published in 1810. Often referred to as ''Prodromus Flora Nova ...

''. 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 ...

(''filiformis'') means "thread-like".

Distribution and habitat

This lechenaultia grows in spinifex grassland or in woodland from the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region of northern Western Australia through the north of the Northern Territory to the

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

in Queensland and the coast of New Guinea.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17480190 filiformis Eudicots of Western Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Flora of New Guinea Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)