Epacris obtusifolia
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|name =
|image = Flowering Heath Elvina Track.jpg
|image_caption = In Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
|status =
|status_system =
|taxon = Epacris obtusifolia
|authority = Sm.{{cite web |title=Epacris obtusifolia |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/79271 |website=Australian Plant Census |accessdate=29 June 2022}}
|synonyms =
|}}
Epacris obtusifolia, commonly known as blunt-leaf heath,{{cite web |last1=Albrecht |first1=David E. |last2=Stajsic |first2=Val |title=Epacris obtusifolia |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/e30cbb9b-2d96-4d09-9543-e1d7a07a4d43 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |access-date=27 June 2022}} is a species of flowering plant from the heath family, Ericaceae, and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an erect shrub with few stems, crowded, oblong to elliptic leaves and tube-shaped white or cream-coloured flowers arranged along the stems.
Description
Epacris obtusifolia is an erect shrub, usually with few stems, that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|0.5–1.5|m}} and has softly-hairy branchlets. The leaves are oblong to elliptic, {{cvt|3.5–11|mm}} long and {{cvt|1.0–3.1|mm}} wide on a petiole {{cvt|0.5–2|mm}} long, the base wedge-shaped and the tip blunt. The flowers are arranged along up to {{cvt|150|mm}} of the stems, on a peduncle up to {{cvt|1.5|mm}} long. The sepals are {{cvt|3.9–7|mm}} long, the petals white or cream-coloured, and joined at the base to form a cylindrical or bell-shaped tube {{cvt|4.8–14.2|mm}} long with lobes {{cvt|1.6–4|mm}} long. Flowering occurs throughout the year with a peak from July to January.{{cite web |last1=Powell |first1=JocelynM. |title=Epacris obtusifolia |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Epacris~obtusifolia |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=27 June 2022}}{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=Les |title=Field Guide to the Native Plants of the Sydney Region |date=1991 |publisher=Kangaroo Press P/L |location=Kenthurst, N.S.W. |isbn=0864171927 |page=107}}{{cite book |last1=Fairley |first1=Alan |last2=Moore |first2=Philip |title=Native Plants of the Sydney district - An identification guide |date=1989 |publisher=Kangaroo Press |location=Kenthurst, N.S.W. |isbn=0864172613 |page=93}}
Taxonomy
Epacris obtusifolia was first formally described in 1804 by James Edward Smith in his Exotic Botany.{{cite web |title=Epacris obtusifolia |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/494434 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=27 June 2022}}{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=James Edward |title=Exotic Botany |volume=1 |date=1804 |publisher=James Sowerby |location=London |page=77 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044106459126&view=1up&seq=177&skin=2021 |access-date=27 June 2022}} The specific epithet (obtusifolia) means "blunt-leaved".{{cite web |title=Epacris obtusifolia |url=https://anpsa.org.au/plant_profiles/epacris-obtusifolia/ |publisher=Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) |access-date=27 June 2022}}
Distribution and habitat
File:Curtis's botanical magazine (Plate 3775) (9128877248).jpg
Blunt-leaf heath grows in swampy areas and heathland in eastern Australia. It occurs along the coast and nearby tablelands of south-eastern Queensland and eastern New South Wales, southern Victoria and Tasmania.{{cite web |last1=Jordan |first1=Greg |title=Epacris obtusifolia |url=https://www.utas.edu.au/dicotkey/dicotkey/EPACRIDS/sEpacris_obtusifolia.htm |publisher=University of Tasmania |access-date=27 June 2022}}
Ecology
In the Sydney region, E. obtusifolia is associated with such plants as coral fern (Gleichenia dicarpa), swamp banksia (Banksia robur), and the sedge Lepidosperma limicola. Plants live between ten and twenty years, and are killed by fire and regenerate from seed which lies dormant in the soil. The seedlings reach flowering age within four years.{{cite journal |last1=Benson |first1=Doug |last2=MacDougall |first2=Lyn |title=Ecology of Sydney plant species Part 3: Dicotyledon families Cabombaceae to Eupomatiaceae |journal=Cunninghamia |date=1995 |volume=4 |issue=2 |page=362 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/271021#page/224/mode/1up |access-date=27 June 2022}}
Use in horticulture
Epacris obtusifolia can be propagated by cutting and requires a well-drained yet moist position in the garden. It was first cultivated in the United Kingdom in 1804.{{cite book |last1=Elliott |first1=W. Roger |last2=Jones |first2=David L. |last3=Blake |first3=Trevor L. |title=Encyclopaedia of Australian plants suitable for cultivation |volume=3 |date=1984 |publisher=Lothian Press |location=Port Melbourne |isbn=0850911672 |page=416}}