Lechenaultia divaricata explained

Lechenaultia divaricata, commonly known as tangled leschenaultia, wirenetting bush or wirebush,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to arid and semi-arid areas of central Australia.

Description

Lechenaultia divaricata is an erect subshrub that typically grows to a height of up to and has many spreading branches and glabrous foliage. The leaves are reduced to scattered, membrane-like, triangular scales long. The flowers are arranged singly on the ends of branchlets, the sepals long. The petals are creamy-white to yellow, long, the wings on the lower petal lobes triangular, wide and fringed, on the upper lobes up to wide. Flowering occurs sporadically throughout the year and the fruit is a cylindrical capsule long.[2] [3] [4] [5]

Taxonomy

Lechenaultia divaricata was first formally described in 1862 by Ferdinand von Mueller in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae from specimens collected near Coopers Creek.[6] [7] The specific epithet (divaricata) means "widely-spreading".[8]

Distribution and habitat

Tangled leschenaultia grows in sand, often on sand dunes in mulga scrub and woodland in arid and semi-arid areas of inland South Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Morrison . David A. . Lechenaultia divaricata . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 26 January 2022.
  2. Web site: Lechenaultia divaricata . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 26 January 2022.
  3. Web site: Lechenaultia divaricata . State Herbarium of South Australia . 26 January 2022.
  4. Web site: Lechenaultia divaricata . Northern Territory Government . 26 January 2022.
  5. Web site: Carolin . Roger C. . Lechenaultia divaricata . Royal Botanic Garden Sydney . 26 January 2022.
  6. Web site: Lechenaultia divaricata. APNI. 26 January 2022.
  7. Book: von Mueller . Ferdinand . Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae . 3 . 1860 . Victorian Government Printer . Melbourne . 33 . 26 January 2022.
  8. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 185 . 3rd.