Epacris microphylla

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Epacris microphylla
Epacris microphylla 2.jpg
Epacris microphylla growing in the Royal National Park.
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Epacris
Species:
E. microphylla
Binomial name
Epacris microphylla

Epacris microphylla , commonly known as coral heath, is a plant in the heath family Ericaceae and which is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a common, wiry shrub with tiny leaves that are often obscured by the flowers, especially near the ends of the stems. The plant sometimes grows in dense groups, giving the effect of a snowfall.

Contents

Description

Coral heath is an erect, wiry shrub with rod-like stems and angled branches, usually growing to a height of 1 metre (3 ft). The leaves are about 2.0–3.5 millimetres (0.08–0.1 in) long and wide, concave and egg-shaped to almost circular and sharply pointed but not prickly. [1] [2] [3]

The flowers are arranged singly in the axils of as many as 90 of the upper leaves, often almost covering 40 centimetres (20 in) of the ends of the branches. The petals form a tube with spreading lobes 1.5–2.0 millimetres (0.06–0.08 in) long and are white with five red anthers visible in the centre. Flowers are present for most of the year, but the main flowering period is July to November. [2] [3]

Epacris microphylla flowers Epacris microphylla flower.jpg
Epacris microphylla flowers

Taxonomy and naming

Epacris microphylla was first formally described by Robert Brown in 1810 and the description was published in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. [4] [5] The specific epithet (microphylla) is derived from the Ancient Greek words mikros meaning "small" or "little" [6] :488 and phyllon meaning "leaf". [6] :466

There are two varieties of E. microphylla:

Distribution and habitat

Coral heath grows in heathland in moist, rocky areas and in forest areas. It occurs in coastal areas in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, often in poor, sandy soils. [2] It is also only known in a single locality in New Zealand, on the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour, near Auckland. [10]

Use in horticulture

Epacris microphylla is an attractive and hardy garden plant as long as it is grown in well-drained soil. It is difficult to propagate from seed but can be grown from semi-hard tip cuttings. [11] [12] [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Epacris</i> Genus of flowering plants in the heath family Ericaceae

Epacris is a genus of about forty species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. It was formerly treated in a closely related but separate family Epacridaceae, but the various genera within Epacridaceae including Epacris have been revised in their relationships to each other and brought under the common umbrella of the Ericaceae. The genus Epacris is native to eastern and southeastern Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand. The species are known as heaths or Australian heaths.

Rupicola is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The species are endemic to New South Wales in Australia.

<i>Leucopogon juniperinus</i> Species of shrub

Leucopogon juniperinus, commonly known as prickly beard-heath, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is an erect, densely-branched shrub with oblong to more or less egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and white, tube-shaped flowers arranged singly in upper leaf axils.

<i>Prostanthera denticulata</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera denticulata, commonly known as rough mint-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to coastal New South Wales. It is a straggling to almost prostrate, aromatic shrub with narrow egg-shaped leaves and purple to mauve flowers arranged in leaf axils or on the ends of branchlets.

<i>Epacris rhombifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Epacris rhombifolia commonly known as mountain coral heath, is a plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an erect, multi-stemmed shrub with broad, rhombic leaves and white flowers with four petals, the flowers spreading down the branches. It only grows in wet, subalpine heath and is sometimes regarded as a variety of Epacris microphylla.

<i>Persoonia microphylla</i> Species of shrub

Persoonia microphylla is a plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It is an erect to prostrate shrub with elliptic to egg-shaped leaves and yellow flowers in groups of up to fourteen on a rachis up to 30 mm (1.2 in) long.

<i>Epacris serpyllifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Epacris serpyllifoliais a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a small low-lying or weakly erect shrub with heart-shaped to broadly egg-shaped leaves and tube-shaped white flowers crowded in upper leaf axils.

<i>Leucopogon affinis</i> Species of plant

Leucopogon affinis, commonly known as lance beard-heath and formerly known as Leucopogon lanceolatus is a flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania and South Australia. It is an erect shrub with spikes of small white flowers in early spring, followed by orange-red fruit.

<i>Epacris sparsa</i> Species of flowering plant

Epacris sparsa, is a small upright shrub with creamy-white flowers, elliptic to egg-shaped leaves and reddish new growth. It is endemic to New South Wales with a restricted distribution.

<i>Leucopogon gracilis</i> Species of shrub

Leucopogon gracilis is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a spindly shrub with wiry branchlets, linear to lance-shaped leaves, and dense spikes of white or pinkish flowers.

<i>Epacris gnidioides</i> Species of Australian heath (plant)

Epacris gnidioides, commonly known as Budawangs cliff-heath, 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 small, creeping shrub with hairy branches, sharply-pointed lance-shaped leaves, and tube-shaped, white flowers.

<i>Epacris crassifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Epacris crassifolia is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. It is a low-lying shrub with elliptic to egg-shaped leaves with the lower end towards the base, and tube-shaped, white or cream-coloured flowers clustered near the ends of the branches.

<i>Leucopogon appressus</i> Species of shrub

Leucopogon appressus is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to south-eastern New South Wales. It is a small, spreading to erect shrub with wiry stems, lance-shaped or narrowly egg-shaped to elliptic leaves and small white flowers.

<i>Epacris decumbens</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

Epacris exserta , commonly known as South Esk heath, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family, Ericaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is an erect shrub with narrowly lance-shaped to elliptic leaves and tube-shaped, white flowers clustered near the ends of the branches.

<i>Epacris mucronulata</i> Species of flowering plant

Epacris mucronulata is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is an erect shrub with softly-hairy young branches, lance-shaped leaves, and cylindrical white flowers in small groups at the ends of the branches.

<i>Epacris paludosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Epacris paludosa, commonly known as swamp heath, is a species of flowering plant from the heath family, Ericaceae, and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an erect, bushy shrub with lance-shaped, elliptic or egg-shaped leaves and tube-shaped white or cream-coloured flowers in crowded, leafy heads at the ends of branches.

Epacris pilosa is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to eastern New South Wales. It is low-lying shrub with weeping, shaggy-hairy branchlets, elliptic to more or less egg-shaped leaves and white or cream-coloured tube-shaped flowers.

Sprengelia montana is a species of flowering plant of the family Ericaceae, and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a small, erect shrub with overlapping, stem-clasping, egg-shaped leaves, and pink flowers, sometimes in groups of up to 10 on the ends of branches.

<i>Sprengelia sprengelioides</i> Species of plant

Sprengelia sprengelioides is a species of flowering plant of the family Ericaceae, and is endemic to near-coastal areas of eastern Australia. It is an erect shrub with egg-shaped leaves, and white flowers arranged singly in leaf axils.

References

  1. Les Robinson - Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, ISBN   978-0-7318-1211-0 page 107
  2. 1 2 3 Brown, E. (1990). "Epacris microphylla R.Br". Plantnet - New South Wales Flora Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Epacris microphylla var. microphylla". Friends of Lane Cove National Park. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  4. "Epacris microphylla". APNI. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  5. Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. London: Typis R Taylor, veneunt apud J. Johnson. p. 550. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  6. 1 2 Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  7. Menadue, Yvonne; Crowden, Ron (18 November 2015). "Change of status for Epacris microphylla R.Br. var. rhombifolia L.R.Fraser & Vickery (Ericaceae: Epacridoideae)". Telopea. 18: 451–453. doi: 10.7751/telopea9149 . Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  8. Brown, E. (1990). "Epacris rhombifolia (L.R.Fraser & Vickery) Crowden". Plantnet - New South Wales Flora Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  9. Walsh, Neville. "Epacris rhombifolia". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  10. G. B. Hetley (1888). The Native Flowers of New Zealand: Illustrated in Colours in the Best Style of Modern Chromo-litho Art. Hansebooks. ISBN   978-3-7411-7613-5.
  11. Wrigley, John W.; Fagg, Murray (1983). Australian native plants : a manual for their propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping (2nd ed.). Sydney: Collins. pp. 113–114. ISBN   0002165759.
  12. "Epacris microphylla". Sydney Water. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  13. Patrick, John. "Fact sheet: Heaths". Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Gardening Australia. Retrieved 22 November 2015.