Goodenia heteromera



Goodenia heteromera, commonly known as spreading goodenia or fan flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a perennial or annual, stolon-forming herb with lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves with the narrow end towards the base, and racemes of yellow flowers with brownish markings.

Description
Goodenia heteromera is a perennial or annual herb up to 20 cm tall, with its stems forming stolons. The leaves are mostly arranged in tufts on the stolons and are egg-shaped to lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, densely hairy, 10–100 mm long and 3–10 mm wide, sometimes with teeth on the edges. The flowers are arranged singly or in very short umbels, the individual flowers on a pedicel 10–60 mm long. The sepals are lance-shaped, 2–3 mm long, the corolla yellow with brownish markings, 6–11 mm long. The lower lobes of the corolla are 4–5 mm long with wings about 2 mm wide. Flowering occurs from May to November and the fruit is an oval capsule 6–7 mm long. The species is distinctive in having spreading upper corolla labes.

Taxonomy and naming
Goodenia heteromera was first formally described in 1859 by Ferdinand von Mueller in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. The specific epithet (heteromera) means "unequal-parts".

Distribution and habitat
This goodenia grows in heavy soil in Eucalyptus camaldulensis and E. largiflorens woodland in the Murray–Darling basin in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

Conservation status
Goodenia heteromera is classified as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992.