Leucopogon audax

Leucopogon audax
Conservation status
Priority Two — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Leucopogon
Species:	L. audax
Binomial name
Leucopogon audax Hislop [1]
Occurrence data from AVH

Leucopogon audax is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, open, single-stemmed shrub with hairy branchlets, egg-shaped leaves and white flowers sometimes tinged with pink, in groups in upper leaf axils or on the ends of branches.

Description

Leucopogon audax is an erect, open shrub that typically grows up to about 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) high and 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) wide, with a single stem at the base, its young branchlets densely hairy. The leaves are directed upwards, egg-shaped or narrowly egg-shaped, 3.5–14 mm (0.14–0.55 in) long and 2.2–4.7 mm (0.087–0.185 in) wide on a petiole up to 0.7 mm (0.028 in) long. The upper surface of the leaves is concave, both surfaces usually densely hairy. The flowers are arranged in groups of three to thirteen at the ends of branchlets, or in upper leaf axils, with egg-shaped bracts 2.0–2.8 mm (0.079–0.110 in) long and similar bracteoles, the sepals egg-shaped or narrowly so, 3.0–4.0 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long, tinged with purple and hairy. The petals are white and joined at the base to form a bell-shaped tube shorter than the sepals, the lobes are white, sometimes tinged with pink, and 3.5–4.4 mm (0.14–0.17 in) long. Flowering mainly occurs from August to October and the fruit is a hairy, cylindrical drupe 3.7–4.4 mm (0.15–0.17 in) long. ^[2]

Taxonomy and naming

Leucopogon audax was first formally described in 2014 by Michael Clyde Hislop in the journal Nuytsia from specimens he collected east of Pingelly in 2010. ^{[2] [3]} The specific epithet (audax) means "bold", referring to the habit of the plant and its large flowers. ^{[2] [4]}

Distribution and habitat

This leucopogon mainly grows in heath or open woodland in a restricted area in the Brookton-Pingelly in the Avon Wheatbelt biogeographic region of south-western Western Australia. ^{[2] [5]}

Conservation status

Leucopogon audax is classified as "Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, ^[5] meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations. ^[6]

References

1. "Leucopogon audax". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
2. Hislop, Michael C. (2014). "New species from the Leucopogon pulchellus group (Ericaceae: Styphelioideae: Styphelieae)" (PDF). Nuytsia. 24: 76–78. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
3. "Leucopogon audax". APNI. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
4. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 140. ISBN   9780958034180.
5. "Leucopogon audax". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
6. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 13 May 2022.