Plants of
South Australia
Leucopogon parviflorus
Ericaceae
Coastal Beard-heath,
Coast Beard-heath
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 3

Prior names

Styphelia richei

Leucopogon richei

Styphelia parviflora

Common names

Coastal Beard-heath

Coast Beard-heath

Etymology

Leucopogon, from the Greek 'leukoni', meaning white and 'pogon', meaning beard, alluding to the white-bearded corolla lobes. Parviflorus, from the Latin 'parvi', meaning small and 'floris' ,meaning flower.

Distribution and status

Grows on coastal sand dunes and in coastal heath from Eyre Peninsula to the lower South-east in South Australia. Also found in all States except in the Northern Territory. Also found in New Zealand Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Erect shrub or small tree to 5 m high. Leaves to 29 mm long and 7.5 mm wide; elliptic to oblanceolate, apex obtuse; lower surface paler with parallel veins. Inflorescence, a densely clustered spike with white flowers; corolla tube to 1.7 mm long, finely pubescent inside. Flowers throughout the year but mainly between September and December. Fruits are fleshy round berries to 5 mm long; green, then becoming translucent white when ripe. Seeds are pale yellow woody globular seeds to 4 mm diameter, with ridges. Seed embryo type is linear, under-developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between November and February. Collect berries that are white with a hard seed. Place the berries in a bucket of water and leave to soak overnight. Rub the flesh off by hand. Drain and wash again if required to remove all the fleshy parts. Then spread the wet seeds onto paper towels and leave to dry. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. Seed viability can be variable depending on the collections. From five collections, the seed viability ranged from low to high - 10% to 90%. This species has morpho-physiological dormancy and is difficult to germinate.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
 
MSB

3,100 (62.5 g)
60-703-Feb-2005DJD107
South Eastern
BGA2,000 (29.28 g)5021-Jan-2005MKJ77
South Eastern
28-Mar-200610%-18°C
BGA 
MSB
1,000 (26.9 g)
1,000 (26.9 g)
1003-Feb-2005DJD103
South Eastern
28-Mar-200625%-18°C
 
MSB

3,200 (27.2 g)
50+11-Jan-2007TST156
South Eastern
BGA5,000 (128.32 g)4031-Jan-2008PJA167
South Eastern
1-Jun-201090%-18°C
BGA2,700 (31.7 g)26-Jan-2003Kingston
South Eastern
15-Feb-201180%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.
Germination table:
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