Lechenaultia expansa

Lechenaultia expansa is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a prostrate to erect subshrub with wand-like branches, crowded, narrow, fleshy leaves and pale purple-blue, tube-shaped flowers.

Lechenaultia expansa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Goodeniaceae
Genus:	Lechenaultia
Species:	L. expansa
Binomial name
Lechenaultia expansa R.Br.[1]

Description

Lechenaultia expansa is a prostrate or erect subshrub that typically grows to a height of up to 60 cm (24 in) and has wand-like branchlets. The leaves are glabrous, crowded, 5.5–9.5 mm (0.22–0.37 in) long, narrow and fleshy. The flowers are arranged in dense clusters in leaf axils, the sepals 4.5–5.5 mm (0.18–0.22 in) long and glabrous. The petals are 9–11 mm (0.35–0.43 in) long, pale purplish-blue, sparsely hairy and joined at the base to form a pale yellowish-white tube, the petal wings 1.0–1.6 mm (0.039–0.063 in) wide. Flowering occurs from October to January and the fruit is 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long.^[2][3]

Taxonomy

Lechenaultia expansa was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.^[4][5] The specific epithet (expansa) means "spread out" or "unfolded".^[6]

Distribution and habitat

This lechenaultia grows in and near swampy heath and winter-wet areas in near-coastal areas of south-western Western Australia in the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren biogeographic regions.^[2][3]

References

1. "Lechenaultia expansa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
2. "Lechenaultia expansa". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
3. "Lechenaultia expansa". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
4. "Lechenaultia expansa". APNI. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
5. Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen. London. p. 581. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
6. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 195. ISBN 9780958034180.