Epacris apiculata is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It is a small, slender, low-lying to erect shrub with hairy branchlets, egg-shaped leaves with a thickened, pointed tip and tube-shaped flowers with white petals.
| Epacris apiculata | |
|---|---|
| |
| In the Australian National Botanic Gardens | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Epacris |
| Species: | E. apiculata
|
| Binomial name | |
| Epacris apiculata | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Rupicola apiculata (A.Cunn.) I.Telford | |
Description
editEpacris apiculata is a slender, low lying to erect shrub with stems up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long, the branchlets covered with white hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped with a thickened, pointed tip, mostly 3–10 mm (0.12–0.39 in) long and 2.5–7 mm (0.098–0.276 in) wide and glabrous. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils on a peduncle 1.5–2.0 mm (0.059–0.079 in) long, the sepals 2.4–3.9 mm (0.094–0.154 in) long. The petals are white and joined at the base, forming a tube 1.2–3.5 mm (0.047–0.138 in) long with lobes 2.4–5 mm (0.094–0.197 in) long. The anthers are 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) long and the style is 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long. Flowering occurs from October to January and the fruit is a glabrous capsule about 1.2 mm (0.047 in) long.[2][3]
Taxonomy and naming
editEpacris apiculata was first formally described in 1825 by Allan Cunningham in Barron Field's Geographical Memoirs on New South Wales based on plant material he collected on Kings Tableland.[4][5] The specific epithet (apiculata) means "ending abruptly in a small point".[6]
Distribution and habitat
editThis epacris grows in damp places on rock ledges at altitudes between 700 and 1,100 m (2,300 and 3,600 ft) in the Blue Mountains of eastern New South Wales.[2][3]
References
edit- ^ a b "Epacris apiculata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ a b Powell, Jocelyn M. "Epacris apiculata". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ a b Telford, Ian R.H. (1992). "Budawangia and Rupicola, new and revised genera of Epacridaceae". Telopea. 5 (1): 235–237. doi:10.7751/telopea19924966. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ "Epacris apiculata". APNI. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ Cunningham, Allan (1825). Field, Barron (ed.). Geographical Memoirs on New South Wales. London: John Murray. p. 340. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 135. ISBN 9780958034180.