Leucopogon darlingensis
Leucopogon darlingensis is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with hairy young branchlets, spirally arranged, linear, oblong, narrowly elliptic or narrowly egg-shaped leaves and white, bell-shaped flowers arranged in upper leaf axils and at the ends of branches.
Description
Leucopogon darlingensis is an erect shrub that typically grows up to about high and wide, its young branchlets hairy. The leaves are spirally arranged, linear, oblong, narrowly elliptic or narrowly egg-shaped, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged in groups of two to ten long on the ends of branches and in upper leaf axils, with narrow egg-shaped bracts and egg-shaped bracteoles long. The sepals are egg-shaped, long and tinged with purple near the tip. The petals are white and joined at the base to form a bell-shaped tube long, the lobes long. Flowering occurs mainly in August and September, and the fruit is a cylindrical or elliptic drupe long.Taxonomy and naming
Leucopogon darlingensis was first formally described in 2014 by Michael Clyde Hislop in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected by Fred and Jean Hort near Brookton in 2005. The specific epithet is a reference to the species' occurrence in the Darling Range.In the same publication, Hislop described two subspecies, and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:Leucopogon darlingensis Hislop subsp. darlingensis has its young branches covered with wavy or crinkled hairs, sometimes mixed with straight hairs, the petal lobes wide.Leucopogon darlingensis subsp. rectus Hislop has its young branches covered only with straight hairs, the petal lobes wide.