''Leucopogon darlingensis'' is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae 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-west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with hairy young branchlets, spirally arranged, linear, oblong, narrowly elliptic or narrowly egg-shaped leaves and white, bell-shaped flowers arranged in upper leaf axils and at the ends of branches.

Description

''Leucopogon darlingensis'' is an erect shrub that typically grows up to about high and wide, its young branchlets hairy. The leaves are spirally arranged, linear, oblong, narrowly elliptic or narrowly egg-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged in groups of two to ten long on the ends of branches and in upper leaf axils, with narrow 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 and egg-shaped bracteoles long. 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 tinged with purple near the tip. The petals are white and joined at the base to form a bell-shaped tube long, the lobes long. Flowering occurs mainly in August and September, and the fruit is a cylindrical or 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'') ...

long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Leucopogon darlingensis'' was first formally described in 2014 by

Michael Clyde Hislop Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

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 ...

'' from specimens collected by Fred and Jean Hort near Brookton in 2005. 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 ...

(''darlingensis'') is a reference to the species' occurrence in the

Darling Range The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to th ...

. In the same publication, Hislop described two subspecies, and the names are accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

: * ''Leucopogon darlingensis'' Hislop subsp. ''darlingensis'' has its young branches covered with wavy or crinkled hairs, sometimes mixed with straight hairs, the petal lobes wide. * ''Leucopogon darlingensis'' subsp. ''rectus'' Hislop has its young branches covered only with straight hairs, the petal lobes wide.

Distribution and habitat

This leucopogon grows in woodland on the Darling Range. Subspecies ''darlingensis'' occurs on the eastern part of the range, from near

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

North Bannister North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

and Wandering in the Avon Wheatbelt and

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 ...

bioregions of south-western Western Australia. Subspecies ''rectus'' has a more restricted distribution between Williams, the Dryandra Woodland and Highbury in the Avon Wheatbelt and Jarrah Forest bioregions.

Conservation status

''Leucopogon darlingensis'' subsp. ''darlingensis'' is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

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 ...

but subsp. ''rectus'' is classified as " Priority Two", meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q51048462, from2=Q100459982, from3=Q51057948 darlingensis Ericales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 2014