''Lissanthe brevistyla'' is a species of flowering plant in the 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 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. It is a spreading shrub with sharply-pointed, lance-shaped leaves and spikes of 18 to 26 tube-shaped, white or pink flowers.

Description

''Lissanthe brevistyla'' is a spreading shrub that typically grows to high and wide, its branchlets covered with short, soft hairs. The leaves are sharply-pointed, lance-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are borne in upper-most leaf axils on a spike up to long, with 18 to 26

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

flowers, with a round

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 ...

and 2 bracteoles at the base of the flower. There are five, broadly egg-shaped

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 long and wide. The petals are white or pink and joined at the base to form an urn-shaped tube long with 5 triangular lobes long with long, curved hairs inside. The

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

are long and the style is long and much shorter than the petal tube. Flowering has been observed in November and is followed by spherical fruit in diameter.

Taxonomy

''Lissanthe brevistyla'' was first formally described in 2001 by

Anthony Bean Anthony Russell Bean (born 1957) is an Australian botanist who works at the Queensland Herbarium and Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha. Since 1982, he has led the Eucalyptus Study Group of the Society for Growing Australian Plants. Care ...

in the journal '' Austrobaileya'' from a specimen collected in the Gumigil Mining Lease, near the Bruce Highway in 1999. 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 ...

(''brevistyla'') means "having a short style".

Distribution and habitat

This species grows on steep hillsides in woodland near

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

in central coastal Queensland.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17242445 brevistyla Ericales of Australia Flora of Queensland Plants described in 2002 Taxa named by Anthony Bean