Lechenaultia

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Lechenaultia
Lechenaultia bilobaKPBG.jpg
Lechenaultia biloba in Kings Park, Perth
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Goodeniaceae
Genus: Lechenaultia
R.Br. [1]
Species

See text

Synonyms [1]
Wreath lechenaultia (L. macrantha) Wreath Lechenaultia (Lechenaultia macrantha), September 2021 14.jpg
Wreath lechenaultia ( L. macrantha )

Lechenaultia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Goodeniaceae, the species native to Australia with one species ( L. filiformis ) also occurring in New Guinea. Plants in the genus Lechenaultia are glabrous shrubs or herbs with needle-shaped leaves, more or less sessile flowers with five sepals and five blue, white, or yellow and red petals in two unequal lobes, the fruit an elongated capsule.

Contents

Description

Plants in the genus Lechenaultia are glabrous shrubs or herbs with spreading branches, linear or cylindrical leaves, the leaves sometimes reduced to scales. The flowers are more or less sessile with five sepals that are free from each other, and five glabrous blue, white or yellow and red petals. The petals are glabrous, the two at the back of the flower shorter with narrow wings near the tip, and the lower three longer with broad wings. The fruit is a cylindrical capsule with four valves. [2] [3] [4]

Taxonomy

The genus Lechenaultia was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen . [5] [6] The genus name honours Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour, the botanist attached to the Baudin expedition to Australia. [7] Brown had met Leschenault and assumed to spell his name the French way without the 's', however, George Bentham introduced the German spelling with the 's' and subsequent writers followed suit as the name was written Leschenaultia, but reverted to Robert Brown's spelling in the 1950s. [8]

The type species is Lechenaultia formosa . [8]

Distribution and habitat

The majority of Lechenaultia species occur in the south-west of Western Australia and most of these occur in shrubland. Lechenaultia biloba grows in forests, and inland species occur in open grassland or woodland. All species grow in well-drained, sandy soil, apart from L. expansa that grows in permanently wet soil. [9]

Ecology and fertilisation mechanism

Charles Darwin studied fertilisation in Lechenaultia and suggested that the upper anther "has been converted into a short broad strap" preventing the stigma from receiving pollen from the fertile anthers of the same flower, thus preventing self-fertilisation. [10]

Species list

The following is a list of Lechenaultia species accepted by the Australian Plant Census as at January 2022: [11]

Lechenaultia acutiloba Benth. – wingless leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia aphylla D.A.Morrison (W.A., S.A.)
Lechenaultia biloba Lindl. – blue leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia brevifolia D.A.Morrison (W.A.)
Lechenaultia chlorantha F.Muell. – Kalbarri leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia divaricata F.Muell. (N.T., S.A., Qld., N.S.W.)
Lechenaultia expansa R.Br. (W.A.)
Lechenaultia filiformis R.Br. (W.A., N.T., Qld., New Guinea)
Lechenaultia floribunda Benth. – free-flowering leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia formosa R.Br. – red leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia galactites L.W.Sage – white leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia heteromera Benth. – claw leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia hirsuta F.Muell. – hairy leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia hortii L.W.Sage – Hort's leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia juncea E.Pritz. – reed-like leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia laricina Lindl. – scarlet leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia linarioides DC. – yellow leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia longiloba F.Muell. – Irwin leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia lutescens D.A.Morrison & Carolin (W.A., N.T.)
Lechenaultia macrantha K.Krause – wreath leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia magnifica L.W.Sage – magnificent leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia mimica M.D.Barrett & R.L.Barrett (W.A.)
Lechenaultia ovata D.A.Morrison (N.T.)
Lechenaultia papillata D.A.Morrison (W.A.)
Lechenaultia pulvinaris C.A.Gardner – cushion leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia stenosepala E.Pritz. – narrow-sepaled leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia striata F.Muell. (W.A., N.T., S.A.)
Lechenaultia subcymosa C.A.Gardner & A.S.George – wide-branching leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia superba F.Muell. – Barrens leschenaultia (W.A.)
Lechenaultia tubiflora R.Br. – heath leschenaultia (W.A.)

In 2021, Russell Lindsay Barrett and Richard W. Jobson described L. peregrina , a new species from northern Australia, New Guinea and the Moluccas, but as of January 2022, the name has not yet been accepted by the Australian Plant Census. [12]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Leucopogon</i> Genus of flowering plants

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<i>Baeckea</i> Genus of flowering plants

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<i>Dampiera</i> Genus of flowering plants

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<i>Jacksonia</i> (plant) Genus of legumes

Jacksonia is a genus of about forty, mostly leafless broom-like shrubs or small trees in the flowering plant family Fabaceae. The genus is endemic to Australia and species occur in a range of habitats in all Australian states except South Australia.

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<i>Lechenaultia biloba</i> Species of flowering plant

Lechenaultia biloba, commonly known as blue leschenaultia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a glabrous herb or subshrub with spreading branches, almost no leaves, and yellow, tube-shaped flowers.

<i>Styphelia</i> Genus of flowering plants in the heath family Ericaceae

Styphelia is a genus of shrubs in the family Ericaceae, native from Indo-China through the Pacific to Australia. Most have minute or small leaves with a sharp tip, single, tube-shaped flowers arranged in leaf axils and with the ends of the petals rolled back with hairs in the inside of the tube.

<i>Lechenaultia macrantha</i> Species of flowering plant

Lechenaultia macrantha, commonly known as wreath leschenaultia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to inland areas of south-western Western Australia. It is a low-lying, wreath-like herb or subshrub with narrow, rather fleshy leaves, and yellow petals with deep pink or red wings.

<i>Lechenaultia tubiflora</i> Species of plant

Lechenaultia tubiflora, commonly known as heath leschenaultia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a hemispherical subshrub or more or less erect perennial with crowded, narrow, rigid leaves and variably-coloured, tube-shaped flowers.

<i>Lechenaultia acutiloba</i> Species of flowering plant

Lechenaultia acutiloba, commonly known as wingless leschenaultia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a dome-shaped shrub with crowded, linear leaves and many tube-shaped, pale greenish-yellow flowers with blue tips.

Lechenaultia aphylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to arid parts of inland Australia. It is a glabrous herb or subshrub with spreading branches, almost no leaves, and yellow, tube-shaped flowers.

Lechenaultia chlorantha, commonly known as Kalbarri leschenaultia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to a restricted area near Kalbarri in Western Australia. It is a subshrub or shrub with many branches, crowded, narrow, fleshy leaves and pale bluish-green, tube-shaped flowers.

<i>Lechenaultia expansa</i> Species of flowering plant

Lechenaultia expansa is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a prostrate to erect subshrub with wand-like branches, crowded, narrow, fleshy leaves and pale purple-blue, tube-shaped flowers.

Lechenaultia galactites, commonly known as white leschenaultia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, robust subshrub or shrub with crowded, narrowly oblong to egg-shaped leaves, and white to pale blue flowers.

<i>Lechenaultia longiloba</i> Species of shrub

Lechenaultia longiloba, commonly named Irwin leschenaultia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a straggling, low-lying herb or subshrub with narrow, rather fleshy leaves, and pale yellow or green petals with deep pink or red wings.

Lechenaultia lutescens is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to inland central Australia. It is a wand-shaped, ascending herb or subshrub with rigid, narrow leaves, and orange-yellow to pale yellow or creamy-white flowers.

<i>Lechenaultia magnifica</i> Species of flowering plant

Lechenaultia magnifica, commonly known as magnificent leschenaultia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, perennial herb or subshrub with crowded, linear to narrowly lance-shaped leaves, and pink to mauve or purple flowers.

Lechenaultia ovata is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to the Northern Territory. It is a perennial herb with rather fleshy, egg-shaped leaves, and white flowers.

Lechenaultia papillata is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to inland areas of south-western Western Australia. It is a diffuse, ascending shrub or subshrub with papillate, crowded, slightly fleshy leaves, and pale blue flowers.

References

  1. 1 2 "Lechenaultia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  2. "Lechenaultia". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. "Lechenaultia". State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  4. "Lechenaultia". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  5. "Lechenaultia". APNI. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  6. Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis 1802-1805. London. p. 581. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  7. Burkhardt, Lotte (2018). Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition [Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition](pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2018. ISBN   978-3-946292-26-5 . Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  8. 1 2 Morrison, David A. (1986). "Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes on Lechenaultia R.Br. (Goodeniaceae)" (PDF). Brunonia. 9 (1): 1–28. doi:10.1071/bru9860001.
  9. Morrison, David A. (1987). "The phytogeography, ecology and conservation status of Lechenaultia R.Br. (Goodeniaceae)" (PDF). Kingia. 1 (1): 88. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  10. Darwin, Charles (1871). "Fertilisation of Leschenaultia". The Gardeners' Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette. 36: 1166. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  11. "Lechenaultia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  12. Barrett, Russell L.; Jobson, Richard W. (2021). "Lechenaultia peregrina, a new species of Goodeniaceae from northern Australia, New Guinea and the Moluccas". Telopea. 24: 277–282. doi: 10.7751/telopea15372 .