Styphelia rupicola is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is a shrub with linear leaves and white, tube-shaped flowers usually arranged singly in leaf axils.

Styphelia rupicola
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Styphelia
Species:
S. rupicola
Binomial name
Styphelia rupicola
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms[1]

Leucopogon rupicola C.T.White

Description edit

Styphelia rupicola is a dense shrub that typically grows to a height of 1.0–1.5 m (3 ft 3 in – 4 ft 11 in). Its leaves are linear to lance-shaped, 10–14 mm (0.39–0.55 in) long, sharply pointed and hairy on both sides. The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils, the sepals egg-shaped and about 3 mm (0.12 in) long. The petals are white, 7 mm (0.28 in) long and joined at the base, forming a tube much longer than the sepals.[2]

This leucopogon is similar to S. margarodes, but is a smaller plant, the leaves usually hairy, the flowers larger but solitary and the petal tube much longer than the sepals.[2]

Taxonomy edit

This species was first formally described in 1944 by C.T. White who gave it the name Leucopogon rupicola in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland from specimens he collected on Biggenden Bluff in the Mount Walsh National Park in 1931.[2][3] In 1963, Hermann Otto Sleumer transferred the species to Styphelia as S. rupicola in the journal Blumea.[1] The specific epithet (rupicola) means "cliff inhabitant".[4]

Distribution and habitat edit

Styphelia rupicola grows on mountain summits and rocky hillslopes in south-east Queensland.[2][5]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Styphelia rupicola". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d White, Cyril T. (1944). "Contributions to the Queensland Flora, No. 8". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland. 55: 71. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Leucopogon rupicola". APNI. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  4. ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 299. ISBN 9780958034180.
  5. ^ "Leucopogon rupicola". Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 15 May 2023.