''Epacris obtusifolia'', commonly known as blunt-leaf heath, is a species of flowering plant from the heath family,

Ericaceae The Ericaceae () are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with about 4,250 known species spread acros ...

, and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

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 and has softly-hairy branchlets. The leaves are oblong to elliptic, long and wide on a

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

long, the base wedge-shaped and the tip blunt. The flowers are arranged along up to of the stems, on a peduncle up to long. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s are long, the petals white or cream-coloured, and joined at the base to form a cylindrical or bell-shaped tube long with lobes long. Flowering occurs throughout the year with a peak from July to January.

Taxonomy

''Epacris obtusifolia'' was first formally described in 1804 by James Edward Smith in his ''Exotic Botany''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''obtusifolia'') means "blunt-leaved".

Distribution and habitat

Blunt-leaf heath grows in swampy areas and

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

land in eastern Australia. It occurs along the coast and nearby tablelands of south-eastern Queensland and eastern New South Wales, southern Victoria and Tasmania.

Ecology

In the Sydney region, ''E. obtusifolia'' is associated with such plants as coral fern (''

Gleichenia dicarpa ''Gleichenia dicarpa'', commonly known as pouched coral fern or tangle fern, is a small fern of the family Gleicheniaceae found in eastern Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand. It forms tangled thickets in wet places such as swamps and riverb ...

''), swamp banksia (''

Banksia robur ''Banksia robur'', commonly known as swamp banksia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae. It grows in sand or peaty sand in coastal areas from Cooktown in north Queensland to the Illawarra region on the New South Wales sout ...

''), and the sedge ''

Lepidosperma limicola ''Lepidosperma'' is a genus of flowering plant of the family Cyperaceae. Most of the species are endemic to Australia, with others native to southern China, southeast Asia, New Guinea, New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islan ...

''. 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.

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.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3016668 obtusifolia Ericales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of Tasmania Plants described in 1804 Taxa named by James Edward Smith