Variable-leaved Goodenia

Appearance

''Goodenia heterophylla'' is an erect to trailing, more or less woody herb or shrubby plant that grows to a height of up to 40 cm. The leaves on the stem are linear to egg-shaped, 10–40 mm long and 2–10 mm wide and sessile, sometimes with toothed or lobed edges.

The leaves at the base of the plant are ephemeral. The flowers are arranged in leafy racemes or thyrses up to 300 mm long on a peduncle 6–15 mm long with linear bracteoles 2–4 mm long.

Each flower is on a pedicel 4–7 mm long with linear to lance-shaped sepals 2–4 mm long. The corolla is up to 12 mm long, the lower lobes up to 5 mm long with wings up to 1.5 mm wide. Flowering mainly occurs from August to May and the fruit is a broadly oval capsule up to 3 mm long.

Distribution

This goodenia grows in forest and woodland, often on sandstone. Subspecies ''eglandulosa'' occurs in coastal and tableland areas of New South Wales from near Wauchope to Jervis Bay in New South Wales. Subspecies ''heterophylla'' is mostly found between Gloucester and Lithgow in New South Wales but sometimes also in north eastern Victoria. Subspecies ''montana'' is found in forest between Lithgow and the Nerriga area and subsp. ''teucriifolia'' is restricted to the Glass House Mountains area in Queensland.