''Lissanthe rubicunda'' is a species of flowering plant in the 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 a slender, erect to spreading shrub with few branches and sharply-pointed linear leaves and short spikes or

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

s of red, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

''Lissanthe rubicunda'' is a slender, erect to spreading shrub with few branches that typically grows to a height of up to . Its leaves are sharply-pointed, and mostly about long and furrowed on the lower surface. The flowers are borne in short spikes or

s on the ends of the branches, each flower on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

about long with smaller

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 ...

at the base. 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 are broadly egg-shaped and about long and the petal are red, joined at the base, forming a tube about long with lobes more than long and bearded near the ends.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally 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 ''Cyathodes rubicunda'' 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 specimens 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 ...

. In 1867, 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. rubicunda'' in a later edition of the ''Fragmenta''. In 2005, Jocelyn Marie Powell, Crayn and Elizabeth Brown transferred the species to ''Lissanthe'' as ''L. rubicunda'' in ''

Australian Systematic Botany ''Australian Systematic Botany'' is an international peer-reviewed scientific journal published by CSIRO Publishing. It is devoted to publishing original research, and sometimes review articles, on topics related to systematic botany, such as b ...

''. 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 ...

(''rubicunda'') means "red" or "ruddy".

Distribution

''Lissanthe rubicunda'' grows in sandy and clay soils,

spongolite Spongolite (also spelled either spongillite or spongiolite) is a sediment or sedimentary rock composed principally of the remains of largely articulated fossils of rigid-bodied siliceous sponges. In contrast, spiculite is either sediment or sedi ...

, limestone and laterite on planis, slopes, watercourses, swamp edges and winter-wet places in the 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 southern Western Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17242904 rubicunda Ericales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1864 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Taxa named by Elizabeth Brown