''Lissanthe rubicunda'' 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 ...

to the south of Western Australia. It is a slender, erect to spreading shrub with few branches and sharply-pointed linear leaves and short spikes or

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s of red, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

''Lissanthe rubicunda'' is a slender, erect to spreading shrub with few branches that typically grows to a height of up to . Its leaves are sharply-pointed, and mostly about long and furrowed on the lower surface. The flowers are borne in short spikes or

s on the ends of the branches, each flower on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

about long with smaller

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 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 broadly egg-shaped and about long and the petal are red, joined at the base, forming a tube about long with lobes more than long and bearded near the ends.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1864 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

who gave it the name ''Cyathodes rubicunda'' in his '' Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae'' from specimens collected by George Maxwell. In 1867, Mueller transferred the species to ''

Styphelia ''Styphelia'' is a genus of shrubs in the family Ericaceae, native from Mainland Southeast Asia, Indo-China through the Pacific to Australia. Most have minute or small leaves with a sharp tip, single, tube-shaped flowers arranged in leaf wikt:a ...

'' as ''S. rubicunda'' in a later edition of the ''Fragmenta''. In 2005,

Jocelyn Marie Powell Jocelyn is a surname and first name. It is a unisex (male/female) name. Variants include Jocelin, Jocelyne, Jocelynn, Jocelynne, Joscelin, Josceline, Joscelyn, Joscelynn, Joscelynne, Joseline, Joselyn, Joselyne, Joslin, Joslyn, Josselin, Josselyn, ...

, Crayn and Elizabeth Brown transferred the species to ''Lissanthe'' as ''L. rubicunda'' in '' Australian Systematic Botany''. 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 ...

(''rubicunda'') means "red" or "ruddy".

Distribution

''Lissanthe rubicunda'' grows in sandy and clay soils,

spongolite {{unreferenced, date=February 2019 Spongolite is a stone made almost entirely from fossilised sponges. It is light and porous. The silica spicules fossilised with the sponges makes the material hazardous to handle by being highly abrasive. Becau ...

, limestone and laterite on planis, slopes, watercourses, swamp edges and winter-wet places in the Coolgardie,

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 Mallee bioregions of southern Western Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17242904 rubicunda Ericales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1864 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Taxa named by Elizabeth Brown