Styphelia pendula

Styphelia pendula 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, straggling shrub with oblong leaves and white, tube-shaped flowers that are bearded inside.

Styphelia pendula
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Styphelia
Species:	S. pendula
Binomial name
Styphelia pendula (R.Br.) Spreng.[1]
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms[1]
Leucopogon pendulus R.Br. Leucopogon secundiflorus Sond. nom. superfl. Leucopogon pendulus var. cuspidatus Benth. Leucopogon pendulus var. robustus E.Pritz.

Description

Styphelia pendula is a bushy, erect, heath-like shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.9–1.2 m (2 ft 11 in – 3 ft 11 in) and has many glabrous or softly-hairy branches. Its leaves are mostly erect, oblong to linear, 4.2–8.5 mm (0.17–0.33 in) or rarely up to 12 mm (0.47 in) long and sometimes with a short, hard point on the tip. The flowers are pendulous and arranged singly or in pairs in leaf axils on a peduncle 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long with tiny bracts, and bracteoles less than half as long as the sepals at the base. The sepals are about 2 mm (0.079 in) long, the petals white and joined at the base, forming a tube about as long as the sepals, with lobes twice as long as the petal tube and bearded inside. Flowering occurs from March to October and the fruit is a drupe 2 or 3 times as long as the sepals.^[2]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown who gave it the name Leucopogon pendulus in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.^[3][4] In 1824, Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel transferred the species to Styphelia as S. pendula in Systema Vegetabilium. The specific epithet, pendula means "hanging down" or "drooping", referring to the flowers and fruit.^[5]

Distribution

This styphelia is found in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren bioregions of south-western Western Australia.^[6]

Conservation status

Styphelia pendula is listed as "not threatened", by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.^[6]