''Leucopogon compactus'' 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 the south of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It is an erect shrub with oblong leaves and dense clusters of white, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

''Leucopogon compactus'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of , its leaves and branches covered with grey, shaggy hairs. The leaves are oblong, mostly less than long with the edges rolled under. The flowers are white and arranged in dense clusters on the ends of branches and in upper leaf axils. 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 about long, with the

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, covered with long hairs. The petals are about long and the lobes are longer than the petal tube. Flowering occurs from June to August or December.

Taxonomy

''Leucopogon compactus'' was first formally described in 1859 by

Sergei Sergeyevich Sheglejev Sergei Sergeyevich Shchegléiev (or Shchegleev, Stchegleev, Stschegleew) (transliteration from Cyrillic: Серге́й Серге́евич Щегле́ев) (1820 - 1859) was a Russian botanist, Ph.D. in botany, and associate professor at the D ...

in the ''Bulletin de la Société impériale des naturalistes de Moscou''. 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 ...

(''compactus'') means "compact" or "united".

Distribution and habitat

This leucopogon grows on plains and hillslopes in the

Esperance Plains Esperance Plains, also known as Eyre Botanical District, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia on the south coast between the Avon Wheatbelt and Hampton bioregions, and bordered to the north by the Mallee region. It is a pl ...

bioregion of southern Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Leucopogon compactus'' is listed as " Priority Four" 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 rare or near threatened.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17241361 compactus Ericales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1859