Styphelia cordifolia, commonly known as heart-leaved beard-heath,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is an erect shrub with broadly egg-shaped to round leaves, and white, tube-shaped flowers, the petals bearded on the inside.
| Styphelia cordifolia | |
|---|---|
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| In the Australian National Botanic Gardens | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Styphelia |
| Species: | S. cordifolia
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| Binomial name | |
| Styphelia cordifolia | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Description edit
Styphelia cordifolia is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.8–1.5 m (2 ft 7 in – 4 ft 11 in) and has softly-hairy branchlets. Its leaves are broadly egg-shaped to round, 3.5–7 mm (0.14–0.28 in) long and 4–8 mm (0.16–0.31 in) wide and curve downwards with a short bristle on the tip. The flowers are arranged in spikes 5.5–8.5 mm (0.22–0.33 in) long in leaf axils, each spike with up to three flowers with broadly egg-shaped to round bracteoles 1.8–2.3 mm (0.071–0.091 in) long at the base. The sepals are egg-shaped, 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long, the petals white and joined at the base to form a tube 2.8–4.1 mm (0.11–0.16 in) long, the lobes 2.4–2.8 mm (0.094–0.110 in) long and bearded on the inside.[2][3]
Taxonomy edit
Styphelia cordifolia was first formally described in 1838 by John Lindley and given the name Leucopogon cordifolius in Thomas Mitchell's journal, Three Expeditions into the interior of Eastern Australia.[4][5] In 1873, Ferdinand von Mueller transferred the species to Styphelia as S. cordifolia in his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. The specific epithet (cordifolia) means "heart-leaved".[6]
Distribution and habitat edit
Heart-leaved beard-heath grows in the understorey of woodland and in heathland in the far north-west of Victoria, the south-east of South Australia, and disjunctly in the Carnarvon, Geraldton Sandplains, Yalgoo bioregions in the west of Western Australia.[2][3][7]
References edit
- ^ a b "Styphelia cordifolia". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
- ^ a b c "Leucopogon cordifolius". State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ a b Walsh, Neville G. "Styphelia cordifolia". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ "Leucopogon cordifolius". APNI. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ Mitchell, Thomas L. (1839). Three expeditions into the interior of eastern Australia (Second ed.). London. p. 122. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 170. ISBN 9780958034180.
- ^ "Styphelia cordifolia". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.