''Leucopogon flexifolius'' is a species of flowering plant in the 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 to south-east Queensland. It is a rigid shrub with many softly-hairy branchlets, crowded, sharply-pointed linear to lance-shaped leaves, and small, white, bell-shaped flowers that are bearded inside.

Description

''Leucopogon flexifolius'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of and has many softly-hairy branchlets. Its leaves are crowded, linear to lance-shaped with a fine point on the end and long. The flowers are arranged in two to four upper leaf axils on a short peduncle with small

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 ...

about 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 about long and the petals white and about long, forming a bell-shaped tube with lobes about as long as the petal tube and hairy inside.

Taxonomy

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

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen ''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 ...

'' from specimens he collected at

Shoalwater Bay Shoalwater Bay is a large bay on the Capricorn Coast of Central Queensland, Australia 100 km north of the coastal town of Yeppoon and 628 km north-north-west of the state capital, Brisbane. Since 1966, the land surrounding Shoalwater Ba ...

. 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 ...

(''flexifolius'') means "pliable-leaved".

Distribution

This leucopogon grows in south-east Queensland.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17241930 flexifolius Ericales of Australia Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)