Leucopogon appressus R.Br. APNI* Synonyms: Gynoconus appressus (R.Br.) J.M.Powell APNI*
Description: Spreading to erect shrub, usually 30–60 cm high; branchlets pilose to strigose.
Leaves erect, upwardly appressed, narrow-ovate to elliptic, 4.1–9.5 mm long, 1–2.6 mm wide; margins minutely toothed to ciliate; lamina usually discolorous, glabrous, upper surface concave and often twisting somewhat, lower surface shallowly ribbed and grooved; petiole 0.3–0.4 mm long.
Flowers ± inconspicuous, dense in leaf axils at end of branchlets, erect, usually 1 or 2, plus rudiment, white; bracteoles c. 1 mm long. Sepals 1.5–2 mm long. Corolla tube 1.5–1.75 mm long, with deflexed lobe hairs internally; lobes 1.1–1.5 mm long.
Fruit ovoid to ellipsoid, c. 1.6 mm long, glabrous.
Flowering: December–February
Distribution and occurrence: Grows in heath or dry sclerophyll forest on rocky sandstone slopes and plateaux, from coastal Sydney and Wollemi N.P.
NSW subdivisions: CC, SC, CT, ST
Text by J. M. Powell, except for groups with contributors listed
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 3 (1992)
ECOLOGY
Life History
Flowers White, inconspicuous, December--February, peak February. Flowers visited by Exoneura bees, and ants (Herb. note).
Fruit/seed Dry seed with elaiosome, 1.6 mm long, average seed weight 0.65 mg (J. Howell pers. comm.).
Dispersal, establishment and growth Diaspore: seed, ant-adapted food body for dispersal (Westoby et al 1990, Rice & Westoby 1981)
Fire response Killed by high intensity fire (at Lane Cove River & Narrabeen Lake 1/1994), a few seedlings seen within 19 months (at Lane Cove, P. Kubiak pers. comm.).
Habitat
Habitat Shrubby forest on sandstone, rocky outcrops.
Altitude 0--1000 m
Annual rainfall 900--1400 mm
Typical local abundance Frequent--occasional.
Vegetation Heath e.g. with Leptospermum trinervium, Hakea propinqua, Banksia ericifolia; woodland e.g. with Corymbia gummifera, Angophora costata, Allocasuarina littoralis.
Substrate Skeletal sandy soil between sandstone rocks, low nutrients, well-drained.
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