''Leucopogon alternifolius'' is a species of flowering plant in the heath family

Ericaceae The Ericaceae are a 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 c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...

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 elsew ...

to south of Western Australia. It is a low, sprawling shrub with thin branchlets, egg-shaped leaves with a heart-shaped, stem-clasping base, and white or pale pink flowers arranged in up to twenty groups along the flowering branchlets.

Description

''Leucopogon alternifolius'' is a sprawling shrub that typically grows to high and wide, with a single stem at the base, its young branchlets thin and

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

. The leaves are egg-shaped, long and wide on a petiole up to long. The leaves are usually concave, the base heart-shaped and stem-clasping and the lower surface a paler shade of green. The flowers are arranged in groups of three to eleven at the ends of branchlets, or in up to twenty leaf axils along flowering branchlets, with egg-shaped

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s long and slightly shorter

bracteoles In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

. 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 b ...

s are egg-shaped, long and often tinged with purple. The petals are joined at the base to form a bell-shaped tube shorter than the sepals, the lobes white or pale pink and long. Flowering occurs from August to December and the fruit is a flattened, more or less circular

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Leucopogon alternifolius'' was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in his ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae ''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 Novae ...

''. 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 ...

(''alternifolius'') means "alternate-leaved".

Distribution and habitat

This leucopogon mainly grows in heath sometimes woodland, near swamps between Albany and Walole in the

Jarrah Forest Jarrah forest is tall open forest in which the dominant overstory tree is ''Eucalyptus marginata'' (jarrah). The ecosystem occurs only in the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia. It is most common in the biogeographic region named in ...

and

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...

biogeographic regions of southern Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Leucopogon alternifolius'' is classified 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 The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state de ...

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

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17242131 alternifolius Ericales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)