Lechenaultia laricina

Lechenaultia juncea, commonly known as scarlet leschenaultia,^[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an open, ascending shrub with narrow, crowded, rather fleshy leaves, and scarlet to orange-red flowers.

Scarlet leschenaultia
Lechenaultia laricina
Conservation status
Declared rare (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Goodeniaceae
Genus:	Lechenaultia
Species:	L. laricina
Binomial name
Lechenaultia laricina Lindl.[1]
Synonyms[1]
List Lechenaultia splendens Hook. Lechenaultia splendens Hook. var. splendens Lechenaultia splendens var. stricta Hook. Leschenaultia laricina Lindl. orth. var. Leschenaultia splendens Hook. orth. var. Leschenaultia splendens var. stricta Hook. orth. var.

Habit

Description

Lechenaultia juncea is an open, ascending shrub that typically grows to a height of up to about 70 cm (28 in), with many branches and that often suckers. Its leaves are crowded, narrow, rather fleshy, 5.5–11.5 mm (0.22–0.45 in) long. The flowers are arranged in compact groups, the sepals 5.0–7.5 mm (0.20–0.30 in) long, the petals scarlet to orange-red, 19–23 mm (0.75–0.91 in) long and densely hairy inside the petal tube. The wings on the lower lobes are triangular, 1.5–2.5 mm (0.059–0.098 in) wide and the upper petal lobes are erect. Flowering mainly occurs from September to December and the fruit is 17–29 mm (0.67–1.14 in) long.^[2][3]

Taxonomy

Lechenaultia laricina was first formally described in 1839 by John Lindley in A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony.^[4][5] The specific epithet (laricina) means "larch-tree like".^[6]

Distribution and habitat

Scarlet leschenaultia usually grows in sandy soils in woodland between Meckering, Clackline and Kukerin in the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest and Mallee biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.^[2][3]

Conservation status

This leschenaultia is listed as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.^[2]

References

1. "Lechenaultia laricina". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
2. "Lechenaultia laricina". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
3. Morrison, David A. "Lechenaultia laricina". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
4. "Lechenaultia laricina". APNI. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
5. Lindley, John (1839). A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan river Colony. London: James Ridgway. p. xxvii. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
6. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 235. ISBN 9780958034180.