Styphelia rufa

Styphelia rufa is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of 30–60 cm (12–24 in), its young branchlets sometimes covered with fine, soft hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped and erect to spreading, 6–12 mm (0.24–0.47 in) long and 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) wide. The leaves are sometimes glabrous, otherwise covered with soft hairs, the lower side a paler shade of green, and there is a sharp bristle on the tip. The flowers are borne in spikes in two to five upper leaf axils, the spikes 6–9 mm (0.24–0.35 in) long, with egg-shaped to almost round bracteoles 1.4–2.0 mm (0.055–0.079 in) long at the base. The sepals are narrowly egg-shaped, 3.1–4.6 mm (0.12–0.18 in) long, the petals white, 5.3–6.6 mm (0.21–0.26 in) long and joined at the base, forming a tube, the lobes shorter than the petal tube. Flowering occurs from November to March, and the fruit is about 6 mm (0.24 in) long.^[2][3][4]

This species was first formally described in 1838 by John Lindley who gave it the name Leucopogon rufus in Thomas Mitchell's journal, Three Expeditions into the interior of Eastern Australia.^[5] In 1867, Ferdinand von Mueller transferred the species to Styphelia as S. rufa in his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. The specific epithet (rufa) means "reddish".^[6]

Spoon-leaf beard-heath occurs in scattered populations in northern and north-eastern Victoria, extending into south-eastern South Australia and the far south of New South Wales. In usually grows in heath, but is also found in open forest and mallee scrub.^[2][3][4]