''Leucopogon elegans'' 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-west of Western Australia. It is a spreading shrub with egg-shaped leaves, and white or pink, tube-shaped flowers densely bearded on the inside.

Description

''Leucopogon elegans'' is an erect or spreading shrub that typically grows up to a height of high and wide. Its leaves are narrowly egg-shaped to egg-shaped, long, wide and directed upwards on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged in groups of 4 to 11 on the ends of branches and in upper leaf axils 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 and

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 ...

at the base. 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 narrowly egg-shaped, long, the petals white or pink and joined at the base to form a narrowly bell-shaped tube long, the lobes long and densely hairy on the inside. Flowering mainly occurs from June to November.

Taxonomy and naming

''Leucopogon elegans'' was first formally described in 1845 by

Otto Wilhelm Sonder Otto Wilhelm Sonder (18 June 1812, Bad Oldesloe – 21 November 1881) was a German botanist and pharmacist. Life A native of Holstein, Sonder studied at Kiel University, where he sat pharmaceutical examinations in 1835, before becoming the prop ...

Johann Georg Christian Lehmann Johann Georg Christian Lehmann (25 February 1792 – 12 February 1860) was a German botanist. Born at Haselau, near Uetersen, Holstein, Lehmann studied medicine in Copenhagen and Göttingen, obtained a doctorate in medicine in 1813 and a doct ...

's ''

Plantae Preissianae ''Plantae preissianae sive enumeratio plantarum quas in australasia occidentali et meridionali-occidentali annis 1838-1841 collegit Ludovicus Preiss'', more commonly known as ''Plantae preissianae'', is a book written by Johann Georg Christian Leh ...

''. 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 ...

(''elegans'') means "fine" or "elegant". In 2009,

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 ...

described two subspecies of ''L. elegans'' 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 ...

'', 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 elegans'' Sond. subsp. ''elegans'' has leaves that are more or less

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 ...

on the upper surface, and sepals long. * ''Leucopogon elegans'' subsp. ''psorophyllus'' Hislop has leaves that are hairy on the upper surface, and sepals long.

Distribution and habitat

Subspecies ''elegans'' grows in winter-wet heath and low woodland and is common between

Two Peoples Bay Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve is a protected area managed by the Department of Parks and Wildlife east of Albany, Western Australia. The area is accessible by 2WD vehicles. The bay itself, including two small secluded beaches, faces due ea ...

and Cheynes Beach, and occurs in scattered locations from there to the southern

Stirling Range The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranb ...

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 ...

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 ''psorophyllus'' grows in heath or mallee woodland between Wellstead,

Cape Riche Cape Riche is a cape and rural locality in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. By road, it is 525 km south-east of Perth and 123 km north-east of Albany Facilities in the locality include a boat launching ramp and a ca ...

and the

Pallinup River Pallinup River is a river located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. It was previously known as Salt River. The Pallinup rises 10 km southeast of Broomehill, and flows in a southeasterly direction toward the coast passin ...

in the Esperance Plains bioregion.

Conservation status

''Leucopogon elegans'' subsp. ''elegans'' is classified as "not threatened" but subsp. ''psorophyllus'' is listed 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, from1=Q17241084, from2=Q100460038, from3=Q51057962 elegans Ericales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1845 Taxa named by Otto Wilhelm Sonder