Epacris decumbens
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Epacris decumbens.jpg
|image_caption = In the Australian National Botanic Gardens
|status =
|status_system =
|genus = Epacris
|species = decumbens
|authority = (I.Telford) E.A.Br.{{cite web|title=Epacris decumbens|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/4536441|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date= 13 May 2022}}
|synonyms =
- Rupicola decumbens I.Telford
- Rupicola sp. 1 (Glen Davis)
}}
Epacris decumbens is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of New South Wales. It is a straggling, low-lying shrub with hairy branchlets, elliptic to egg-shaped leaves, and tube-shaped, white flowers.
Description
Epacris decumbens is a straggling, low-lying shrub that typically grows to a height of up to {{cvt|80|cm}} and has shaggy-hairy stems up to {{cvt|1|m}} long. The leaves are elliptic to egg-shaped, {{cvt|12–20|mm}} long and {{cvt|3.8–7.6|mm}} wide on a hairy petiole {{cvt|1–2|mm}} long. The flowers are {{cvt|13–17|mm}} in diameter and arranged singly on a peduncle about {{cvt|3|mm}} long, the sepals {{cvt|5.3–6.1|mm}} long. The petal tube is {{cvt|1.0–1.3|mm}} long, the lobes {{cvt|7–8|mm}} long. Flowering occurs in November and December and the fruit is a capsule about {{cvt|4|mm}} in diameter.{{cite web |last1=Powell |first1=Jocelyn M. |title=Epacris decumbens |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Epacris~decumbens |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=13 May 2022}}{{cite journal |last1=Telford |first1=Ian R.H. |title=Budawangia and Rupicola, new and revised genera of Epacridaceae |journal=Telopea |date=30 September 1992 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=237–239 |doi=10.7751/telopea19924966|doi-access=free }}
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1992 by Ian R.H. Telford who gave it the name Rupicola decumbens in the journal Telopea from specimens he collected with Michael Crisp, near Glen Davis in 1976.{{cite web|title=Rupicola decumbens |url=https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/552586 |publisher=APNI|accessdate=14 May 2022}} In 2015, Elizabeth Anne Brown changed the name to Epacris decumbens in Australian Systematic Botany.{{cite web|title=Epacris decumbens |url=https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/4536707 |publisher=APNI|accessdate=14 May 2022}} The specific epithet (decumbens) means "prostrate but with the tips rising upwards", referring to the habit of the plant.{{cite book |last1=Sharr |first1=Francis Aubi |last2=George |first2=Alex |title=Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, WA |isbn=9780958034180 |page=179 |edition=3rd}}
Distribution and habitat
Epacris decumbens grows on sandstone clifs, ledges and rock crevices in the Glen Davis and Cudgegong River areas of New South Wales.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q15376877}}
Category:Ericales of Australia
Category:Flora of New South Wales