Leucopogon lanceolatus

Location & distribution maps

Common name:         Lance Beard-heath 

Conservation status: ...

Etymology:   

• The genus name, Leucopogon is derived from ancient Greek words meaning "white" and "beard", referring to the petal tube

• The specific epithet (lanceolatus) is a Latin word meaning “shaped like a lance"

• The specific epithet (affinis) is a Latin word meaning "related to", "neighboring" or "bordering"

Flowers

• The flowers are arranged in spikes on the ends of the branches and in the upper leaf axils

• The spikes are 3–39 mm long and contain between 2 and 16 tube-shaped white flowers

• The flower tube is 3–4 mm long with 5 pointed lobes that are densely hairy inside

• The base of the tube is surrounded by narrow, egg-shaped sepals that are 1–2 mm long

• Flowering occurs from August to October 

Fruit:                            

• A glabrous, edible, oval-shaped, reddish-orange fruit about 3 mm long

Leaves:         

• Its leaves are lance-shaped, elliptic or egg-shaped, 6–50 mm long, 1.3–8 mm wide

• They are almost stalkless, have a narrow base, a pointed tip, fine striations on the lower surface and the edges sometimes have fine teeth near the tip

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• An erect, often bushy shrub which grows to a height of 0.7–3 m, sometimes with its youngest branches having a covering of tiny hairs

Habitat:   

• This leucopogon mainly grows in open forests and woodland, sometimes in moist gullies or in swampy areas, on a range of soils

Distribution:                  

• It occurs in south-east Queensland, the coast and adjacent ranges of NSW, far south-eastern South Australia and on some of the islands in Bass Strait although not on the Tasmanian mainland

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy and naming

  • Leucopogon affinis was first formally described by Robert Brown in 1810 and the description was published in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae

  • The plant was formerly known as Leucopogon lanceolatus (Sm.) R.Br. but this is now recognised as a nomen illegitimum by the Australian Plant Census

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucopogon_affinis (2024)