''Leionema equestre'', commonly known as Kangaroo Island phebalium, is a shrub species that 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 elsew ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It is a small spreading shrub with rough, green leaves and whitish-pink flowers from late winter to October.

Description

''Leionema equestre'' is a small shrub to high with wide-spreading green stems becoming reddish, branchlets more or less

terete Terete is a term in botany used to describe a cross section that is circular, or like a distorted circle, with a single surface wrapping around it.Lichen Vocabulary, Lichens of North America Information, Sylvia and Stephen Sharnoff/ref> This is us ...

, thin, smooth and covered with minute, soft, upright, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are flat, saddle-shaped, rough, circular, long, wide, heart-shaped at the base, smooth margins and edges rolled upward. The flowers are single or in a small cluster of 2 or 3,

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

, each flower on a slender, reddish stem long at the end of branchlets. The calyx lobes are triangular shaped and about long. The flower petals spreading, separated, smooth, narrowly elliptic, pink and darkening toward a pointed tip. The 10 stamens are in a two row formation, upright, mostly light yellow or occasionally pink. The flower buds pink, long, oval-shaped with a rounded apex. The fruit about long, sparsely covered in short, soft, star-shaped hairs and ending in a small point. Flowering occurs from August to October.

Taxonomy and naming

Kangaroo Island phebalium was first formally described as ''Phebalium equestre'' but the genus was changed to ''Leionema equestre'' in 1998 by Paul G. Wilson and the description was published 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 ...

. 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 ...

''equestre'' is derived from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

meaning belonging to horsemen, in reference to the shape of the leaves.

Distribution

This species has a restricted distribution, only found on

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

South Australia.

Conservation status

''Leionema equestre'' is classified as "endangered" by the Government of South Australia

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15393193 equestre Sapindales of Australia Flora of South Australia