''Leucopogon gilbertii'' 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 The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

of Western Australia. It is a slender shrub with linear to lance-shaped leaves and spikes of tube-shaped white flowers on the ends of branches and in leaf axils.

Description

''Leucopogon gilbertii'' is a slender,

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 ...

shrub that typically grows to a height of . The leaves are linear to lance-shaped tapering to a short, hard point, and up to about long. The flowers are small, arranged in short, dense spikes on the ends of branches or in upper leaf axils with

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 striated

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 half as long as 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. The sepals are hairy, about long and the petals white and long, the lobes longer than the petal tube.

Taxonomy

''Leucopogon gilbertii'' 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'' from specimens collected by John Gilbert. 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 ...

(''gilbertii'') honour the collector of the type specimens.

Distribution and habitat

This leucopogon grows in peaty sand in winter-wet places and in swamps in the

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 ...

and

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...

bioregions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Leucopogon gilbertii'' is listed as "not threatened" 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 ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17243420 gilbertii Ericales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1859