Goodenia varia



Goodenia varia, commonly known as sticky goodenia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to southern Australia. It is an ascending to prostrate shrub with elliptic leaves, usually with toothed edges, and racemes or thyrses of yellow flowers.

Description
Goodenia varia is an ascending to prostrate shrub that typically grows to a height of 1.0 m and is usually sticky when young. The leaves are arranged along the stems and are elliptic to more or less round, usually with teeth on the edges, 20–40 mm long, 10–20 mm wide on a petiole up to 5 mm long. The flowers are arranged in racemes or thyrses up to 150 mm long with on a peduncle up to 10 mm long, with leaf-like bracts and triangular bracteoles 1 mm long, each flower on a pedicel up to 3 mm long. The sepals are linear, 2–3.5 mm long and the corolla is yellow, 8–18 mm long. The lower lobes of the corolla are 5–8 mm long with wings about 1.5 mm wide. Flowering occurs in most months and the fruit is a cylindrical capsule, 8–10 mm long.

Taxonomy
Goodenia varia was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. The specific epithet (varia) means "variable", referring to the shape of the leaves.

Distribution and habitat
Sticky goodenia grows in Triodia grassland, woodland, mallee and coastal communities from Eucla in Western Australia and eastwards to south-eastern South Australia, north-western Victoria and far south-western New South Wales.