| Swamp beard-heath | |
|---|---|
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| Styphelia esquamata in Botany Bay National Park | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Styphelia |
| Species: | S. esquamata |
| Binomial name | |
| Styphelia esquamata (R.Br.) Spreng. | |
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| Occurrence data from AVH | |
| Synonyms | |
Styphelia esquamata, commonly known as the swamp beard-heath, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a slender shrub with mainly elliptic leaves, and short-lived white, tube-shaped flowers arranged singly or in pairs in upper leaf axils.
Description
Styphelia esquamata is an erect, leafy shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.2–1 m (7.9 in – 3 ft 3.4 in) and has glabrous branchlets. Its leaves are erect, elliptic to narrowly so, sometimes egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 7–15 mm (0.28–0.59 in) long and 2.0–3.3 mm (0.079–0.130 in) wide on a petiole about 1 mm (0.039 in) long. The lower surface of the leaves is paler than the upper surface and is faintly striated, the edges with minute teeth near the tip. The flowers are white, arranged singly or in pairs in upper leaf axils and are on an erect peduncle up to 1.5 mm (0.059 in) long with bracteoles 1.2–1.5 mm (0.047–0.059 in) long at the base. The sepals are egg-shaped and 2.1–2.5 mm (0.083–0.098 in) long, the petal tube 1.0–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) long and densely bearded inside, the lobes 2.3–2.9 mm (0.091–0.114 in) long. Flowering occurs in August and September and the fruit is a glabrous, brown, cylindrical drupe 3.8–4.5 mm (0.15–0.18 in) long.
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown, who gave it the name Leucopogon esquamatus in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. In 1824, Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel transferred the species to Styphelia as S. esquamata and that name is accepted by Plants of the World Online. The specific epithet (esquamata) means "without scales", possibly to distinguish it from other similar plants with scale-like leaves.
Distribution and habitat
Swamp beard-heath usually grows in swampy heath, sometimes in forest or at the base of sandstone cliffs and is found in New South Wales south from Brooms Head near Angourie to poorly-drained near-coastal heath as far west as Marlo in north-eastern Victoria. It also grows on sandy headlands on Flinders and Cape Barren Islands in Tasmania.
References
- ^ "Styphelia esquamata". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ Powell, Jocelyn M. "Leucopogon esquamatus". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
- ^ Powell, Jocelyn M.; Walsh, Neville G.; Brown, Elizabeth A. "Styphelia esquamata". Retrieved 17 October 2022.
- ^ "Threatened species link Leucopogon esquamatus". Tasmanian Government Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
- "Leucopogon esquamatus". APNI. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
- Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. London. p. 546. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
- Les Robinson – Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, ISBN 978-0-7318-1211-0 page 108
| Taxon identifiers | |
|---|---|
| Styphelia esquamata | |
| Leucopogon esquamatus |
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