Leionema coxii

Leionema coxii is a pyramid-shaped shrub, 1–3 m (3 ft 3 in–9 ft 10 in) high, 1 m (3 ft 3 in) wide, occasionally a small tree to 7–8 m (23–26 ft) high with stems that grow at an angle, smooth and glandular. The leaves are lance to narrowly-elliptic shaped, 3–7 cm (1.2–2.8 in) long, 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) wide, upper surface shiny, smooth, margins barely toothed, prominent midrib on lower surface and ending in a sharp point. The inflorescence is a corymb consisting of 10-30 flowers at the end of flattened more or less smooth branches. The yellowish-creamy calyx lobes are wide-triangular, smooth, petals about 5 mm (0.20 in) long and dotted with glands. The upright fruit about 5 mm (0.20 in) long with an angled beak.[2][3]

The species was first formally described in 1884 by Ferdinand von Mueller who gave it the name Eriostemon coxii and the description was published in The Australasian Chemist and Druggist.[4] In 1998 Paul G. Wilson changed the name to Leionema coxii and the description was published in the journal Nuytsia.[5][6]The specific epithet (coxii) honours James Charles Cox a medical practitioner of Sydney for promoting "scientific objects in the neighbouring elder colony".[4]

This species grows in forests, brushland, near water courses and ridges from Morton National Park to the Tuross River area, mostly in the Budawang Range in southern New South Wales.[2]