Plants of
South Australia
Leionema hillebrandii
Rutaceae
Mount Lofty Leionema,
Mount Lofty Phebalium,
Hillebrand's Phebalium
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Prior names

Phebalium hillebrandii

Phebalium bilobum

Eriostemon hillebrandii, partly

Common names

Mount Lofty Leionema

Mount Lofty Phebalium

Hillebrand's Phebalium

Etymology

Leionema, from the Greek 'leios', meaning smooth and 'nema', meaning thread. Hillebrandii named after William Hillebrand (1821 - 1886), a German physician and botanist who visited South Australia for 6 months in 1849 and made a few collections from near the mouth of the River Murray and Lake Alexandrina and in the vicinity of Reedy Creek.

Distribution and status

Endemic to South Australia and found only in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges, growing in heath-woodland and forest gullies, often in open rocky habitat along steep gullies. Native. Rare in South Australia.
Herbarium regions: Southern Lofty, Green Adelaide
NRM region: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Small straggly shrub to 60 cm, with slender, smooth, reddish to olive-brown stems and branchlets. Leaves ovoid, covered in soft hairs; dark green above and pale green below. Inflorescence in terminal clusters of two to sixteen, white with pink back flowers. Flowering between August and October. Fruits are pale brown, two to four-segmented capsule. Seeds are brown bean-like seed to 3.5 mm long and 2 mm wide. Seed embryo type is linear, fully-developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between November and January. Collect mature capsules; those that are turning a pale straw colour and containing hard seeds. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for a weeks. Then rub the capsules gently by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. 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. From three collections, the seed viability was average to high, ranging from 75% to 100%. This species has morpho-physiological dormancy and can be 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
BGA 
MSB
1,190 (9.1 g)
1,190 (9.1 g)
8323-Dec-2003PJA76
Southern Lofty
1-Sep-200475%-18°C
BGA230 (0.95 g)16-Nov-2006PJA146
Southern Lofty
20-Jul-2009100%-18°C
BGA310 (1.5 g)50+7-Dec-2007PJA160
Southern Lofty
20-Jul-200990%-18°C
BGA280 (1.47 g)2014-Nov-2016DJD3603
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201764%-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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