Styphelia conferta
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Styphelia
Species:
S. conferta
Binomial name
Styphelia conferta
(Benth.)F.Muell.[1]
Synonyms[1]

Leucopogon confertus Benth.

Styphelia confertus, commonly known as Torrington beard-heath,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to a restricted part of New South Wales. It is a small shrub with erect, oblong or lance-shaped leaves, and white, tube-shaped flowers, the petals with shaggy hairs.

Description

Styphelia conferta is a small shrub with softly-hairy branchlets. Its leaves are erect, oblong to lance-shaped, 5.0–7.5 mm (0.20–0.30 in) long and 0.8–1.4 mm (0.031–0.055 in) wide on a petiole less than 0.5 mm (0.020 in) long. Both sides of the leaves are covered with bristly hairs. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils and are erect with bracteoles 2.3–3.0 mm (0.091–0.118 in) long at the base. The sepals are shaggy-hairy, 3.4–4.0 mm (0.13–0.16 in) long, the petals white and joined at the base to form a tube 1.9–2.2 mm (0.075–0.087 in) long, the lobes 2.2–2.5 mm (0.087–0.098 in) long and shaggy-hairy on the inside.[2][3]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1868 by George Bentham in who gave it the name Leucopogon confertus in Flora Australiensis from specimens collected by Charles Stuart.[4][5] In 1882, Ferdinand von Mueller transferred the species to Styphelia as S. conferta in Systematic Census of Australian Plants.[6] The specific epithet (conferta) means "crowded".[7]

Distribution and habitat

Torrington beard-heath is only known from the type collection and is thought to grow in open forest or woodland on rocky granite soil near Torrington on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales.[2][3]

Conservation status

Styphelia conferta (as Leucopogon confertus) is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. The likely threats to the species include roadworks, grazing by feral goats and pigs, but repeated searches for the plant have failed, and it may already be extinct.[2][3]

References

  1. 1 2 "Styphelia conferta". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Approved Conservation Advice for Leucopogon confertus" (PDF). Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Powell, Jocely M. "Leucopogon confertus". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  4. ↑ "Leucopogon confertus". APNI. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  5. ↑ Bentham, George (1868). Flora Australiensis. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. pp. 208–209. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  6. ↑ "Styphelia conferta". APNI. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  7. ↑ William T. Stearn (1992). Botanical Latin. History, grammar, syntax, terminology and vocabulary (4th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. p. 389.
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