''Lechenaultia galactites'', commonly known as white leschenaultia, 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 ac ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found else ...

to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, robust subshrub or shrub with crowded, narrowly oblong to egg-shaped leaves, and white to pale blue flowers.

Description

''Lechenaultia galactites'' is an erect, robust subshrub or shrub that typically grows to a height of . Its leaves are crowded, especially on the lower stems, narrowly oblong to egg-shaped, long and about wide. The flowers are arranged in groups near the ends of branchlets, and have linear

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 coine ...

s long. The petals are white to creamy-white or pale blue, about long and have long, soft hairs inside the petal tube. The petal lobes are more or less equal in size, the upper lobes up to wide and the lower lobes about long with wings up to about wide. Flowers have been collected from June to October, with an apparent peak in September.

Taxonomy

''Lechenaultia galactites'' was first formally described in 2006 by Leigh W. Sage in the journal ''

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

'' from specimens collected in the Kokardine area in 1999. The specific epithet (''galactites'') means "milk-like", referring to the colour of the flowers.

Distribution and habitat

White leschenaultia grows in

kwongan Kwongan is plant community found in south-western Western Australia. The name is a Bibbelmun (Noongar) Aboriginal term of wide geographical use defined by Beard (1976) as Kwongan has replaced other terms applied by European botanists such as ...

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 reli ...

and Swan Coastal Plain biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

This leschenaultia is listed as " Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Western Australian government department responsible for managing lands and waters described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'', the ''Rottnest Island ...

, meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17480196 galactites Plants described in 2006 Flora of Western Australia