Epacris tasmanica

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

|image = Epacris tasmanica.jpg

|image_caption = In the Australian National Botanic Gardens

|genus = Epacris

|species = tasmanica

|authority = W.M.Curtis{{cite web |title=Epacris tasmanica |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/80034 |website=Australian Plant Census |accessdate=20 July 2022}}

|synonyms_ref =

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Epacris tasmanica is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is an erect shrub with lance-shaped leaves and tube-shaped white flowers crowded in upper leaf axils.

Description

Epacris tasmanica is an erect, sometimes bushy shrub that grows to a height of up to {{cvt|2|m}} but typically less than {{cvt|1|m}}, and has few branches, the stems and branchlets hairy when young. Its leaves are spreading, lance-shaped, {{cvt|3–8|mm}} long, {{cvt|2.0–3.5|mm}} wide and sharply pointed, on a petiole less than {{cvt|0.5|mm}} long. The flowers are clustered near the ends of branches on pedicels {{cvt|1.0–2.8|mm}} long with creamy-white bracts at the base. The sepals are about {{cvt|3–7|mm}} long, lance-shaped and about the same length as the petal tube. The petal tube is bell-shaped, {{cvt|2.5–5|mm}} long with lobes {{cvt|3.5–5.5|mm}} long.{{cite journal |last1=Crowden |first1=Ronald K. |title=Additions to Epacris (Epacridoidae, Ericaceae) in Tasmania. |journal=Muelleria |date=2007 |volume=25 |pages=123–124 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/279546#page/125/mode/1up |access-date=20 July 2022}}

Taxonomy

Epacris tasmanica was first formally described in 1969 by Winifred Curtis in the journal Taxon.{{cite web|title=Epacris tasmanica |url=https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/495687 |publisher=APNI|accessdate=20 July 2022}}

Distribution

This epacris is endemic to Tasmania where it is common and widespread in the east of the state, where it grows in stony soil at low altitudes.{{cite web |last1=Jordan |first1=Greg |title=Epacris tasmanica |url=https://www.utas.edu.au/dicotkey/dicotkey/EPACRIDS/sEpacris_tasmanica.htm |publisher=University of Tasmania |access-date=20 July 2022}}

References