''Leucopogon appressus'' 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-eastern New South Wales. It is a small, spreading to erect shrub with wiry stems, lance-shaped or narrowly egg-shaped to elliptic leaves and small white flowers.

Description

''Leucopogon appressus'' is a weak, spreading to erect shrub that typically grows to a height of and has wiry, hairy branches. The leaves are directed upwards, pressed against the stem, narrowly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, or elliptic, long and wide on a petiole long. The upper surface of the leaves is concave and there is a long, fine point on the tip. The flowers are white and arranged singly in leaf axils in dense heads at the ends of branches. 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 long with

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 ...

about long at the base. The petal tube is long with hairy lobes long. Flowering occurs from December to February and is followed by

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 ...

oval to elliptic

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'') ...

s about long.

Taxonomy

''Leucopogon appressus'' 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 ...

(''appressus'') means "pressed down", referring to the leaves pressed against the stem.

Distribution and habitat

''Leucopogon appressus'' grows in heath and shrubby forest in soils derived from sandstone on the coast and nearby tablelands of New South Wales near

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and in the

Wollemi National Park The Wollemi National Park () is a protected national park and wilderness area that is located in the northern Blue Mountains and Lower Hunter regions of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The park, the second largest national park in New S ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17244106 appressus Ericales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)