''Lissanthe sapida'', sometimes referred as the native cranberry, 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 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 else ...

to areas near Sydney Australia. It is a bushy scrub with more or less lance-shaped leaves and creamy-white, cylindrical flowers.

Description

''Lissanthe sapida'' is a bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of , sometimes to and has bristly branchlets. Its leaves are more or less lance-shaped, sometimes with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a petiole long. There are 7 or 8 ribs on the lower surface of the leaves. Up to 4 pendent, creamy-white flowers are borne in leaf axils with

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 o ...

long 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 coine ...

s are long and the petals are joined at the base to form a cylindrical tube long with

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 ...

lobes long. Flowering occurs from July to September and the fruit is a glabrous red, spherical to oval capsule about long.

Taxonomy

''Lissanthe sapida'' 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 ...

''. The specific epithet (''sapida'') means "savoury" or "well-flavoured".

Distribution and habitat

''Lissanthe sapida'' grows on ridges, hillsides and rocky ledges in open forest on sandy soil on sandstone. It is found in the lower Blue Mountains, including near Glenbrook,

Woodford Woodford may refer to: Places Australia *Woodford, New South Wales *Woodford, Queensland, a town in the Moreton Bay Region *Woodford, Victoria Canada * Woodford, Ontario England *Woodford, Cornwall * Woodford, Gloucestershire *Woodford, Greate ...

amd Lawson.

Conservation status

Native cranberry is a rare plant, with a

ROTAP Rare or Threatened Australian Plants, usually abbreviated to ROTAP, is a list of rare or threatened Australian plant taxa. Developed and maintained by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the most recent edition ...

rating of 3RCa, it grows in dry

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...

woodlands and rocky areas, on soils based on

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

at altitudes of up to .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6559137 Epacridoideae Ericales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)