''Leionema coxii'' is a shrub species that is endemic to southern New South Wales, Australia. It has an upright habit, dark green, narrow leaves and clusters of white flowers in spring.

Description

''Leionema coxii'' is a pyramid-shaped shrub, high, wide, occasionally a small tree to high with stems that grow at an angle, smooth and glandular. The leaves are lance to narrowly-elliptic shaped, long, wide, upper surface shiny, smooth, margins barely toothed, prominent midrib on lower surface and ending in a sharp point. The inflorescence is a corymb consisting of 10-30 flowers at the end of flattened more or less smooth branches. The yellowish-creamy

calyx Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...

lobes are wide-triangular, smooth, petals about long and dotted with glands. The upright fruit about long with an angled beak.

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first formally described in 1884 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 ...

who gave it the name ''Eriostemon coxii'' and the description was published in ''The Australasian Chemist and Druggist''. In 1998 Paul G. Wilson changed the name to ''Leionema coxii'' and the description was published in the journal '' Nuytsia''. 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 ...

''(coxii)'' honours

James Charles Cox James Charles Cox (21 July 1834 – 29 September 1912) was an Australian physician and conchologist. Early life Cox was born at Mulgoa, southwest of Sydney. He was a son of Jane Maria (née Brooks) Cox and Edward Cox of Fernhill in Mulgoa. Amon ...

a medical practitioner of Sydney for promoting "scientific objects in the neighbouring elder colony".

Distribution and habitat

This species grows in forests, brushland, near water courses and ridges from Morton National Park to the Tuross River area, mostly in the

Budawang Range The Budawang Range, commonly called The Budawangs, a rugged mountain range within the Budawang National Park and the Morton National Park, are part of a spur off the Great Dividing Range and are located in the South Coast region of New South Wal ...

in southern New South Wales.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6520069

coxii Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 2, also known as cytochrome c oxidase polypeptide II, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MT-CO2 gene. Cytochrome c oxidase subunit II, abbreviated COXII, COX2, COII, or MT-CO2, is the second subunit of ...

Sapindales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller