Leucopogon elatior

Leucopogon elatior is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a slender, erect or straggly shrub with broadly egg-shaped leaves, and white, tube-shaped flowers.

Leucopogon elatior
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Leucopogon
Species:	L. elatior
Binomial name
Leucopogon elatior Sond.[1]
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms[1]
Leucopogon semioppositus F.Muell. nom. inval., pro syn. Styphelia elatior (Sond.) Sleumer Styphelia semiopposita F.Muell.

Description

Leucopogon elatior is a slender, erect or straggly shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.2–1 m (7.9 in – 3 ft 3.4 in). Its leaves are broadly egg-shaped to lance-shaped, 2–6 mm (0.079–0.236 in) long with a more or less heart-shaped base. The flowers are arranged in cylindrical spike of many flowers with leaf-like bracts and small bracteoles. The sepals are about 2 mm (0.079 in) long, the petals white and joined at the base to form a broadly bell-shaped tube about 4 mm (0.16 in) long, the lobes longer than the petal tube. Flowering occurs from January to May, or July to November.^[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

Leucopogon elatior as was first formally described in 1845 by Otto Wilhelm Sonder in Johann Georg Christian Lehmann's Plantae Preissianae.^[4][5] The specific epithet (elatior) means "taller".^[6]

Distribution and habitat

This leucopogon grows on sandplains, hillslopes and winter-wet places in the south-west of Western Australia.^[2][7]

Conservation status

Leucopogon elatior is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.^[2]