''Epacris'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of about forty species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the 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 ...

. It was formerly treated in a closely related but separate family Epacridaceae, but the various

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

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 (southeast

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

south to

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and west to southeast

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

), and New Zealand. The species are known as heaths or Australian heaths.

Description

Plants in the

''Epacris'' are shrubs with simple leaves that are a similar colour on both surfaces and with flowers arranged singly in leaf

axil A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...

s near the ends of the branches, sometimes extending along the branches. Each flower is surrounded by many

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s and five, usually

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

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. The

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s are joined to produce a cylindrical or bell-like tube with five lobes on the end. There are five

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s which are mostly enclosed in the tube, and a single

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which protrudes from the tube. The fruit is a capsule.

Taxonomy and naming

The genus ''Epacris'' was first formally described in 1797 by

Antonio José Cavanilles Antonio José Cavanilles (16 January 1745 – 5 May 1804) was a leading Spanish taxonomic botanist, artist and one of the most important figures in the 18th century period of Enlightenment in Spain. Cavanilles is most famous for his 2-vol ...

, who published the description in ''Icones et Descriptiones Plantarum''. Cavanilles did not specify a

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

species but in 1983 Edward Groesbeck Voss nominated '' Epacris longiflora'' as the

lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes ...

. The genus name (''Epacris'') is derived from an

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

word meaning "on the summit", referring to habitat preference.

Distribution

Species of ''Epacris'' are found in all Australian states except the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Three further species are found in New Zealand. The New Zealand species '' E. pauciflora'' has been reported from

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

, but this report is now regarded as an error.

Species

The following is a list of species recognised by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Sys ...

or by the

New Zealand Plant Conservation Network The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network (NZPCN) is a non-governmental organisation devoted to the protection and restoration of New Zealand's indigenous plant life, including vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts and lichens. Descr ...

as at April 2022: * '' Epacris acuminata''

Benth. George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

(Tas.) * ''

Epacris alpina ''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 ...

'' Hook.f. (N.Z.) * '' Epacris apiculata''

A.Cunn. Allan Cunningham (13 July 1791 – 27 June 1839) was an English botanist and explorer, primarily known for his expeditions into uncolonised areas of eastern Australia to collect plants and report on the suitability of the land for grazing ...

(N.S.W.) * '' Epacris apsleyensis'' Crowden (Tas.) * '' Epacris barbata'' Melville – bearded heath (Tas.) * '' Epacris breviflora'' Stapf – drumstick heath (Qld., N.S.W., Vic.) * '' Epacris browniae'' Coleby (N.S.W.) * '' Epacris calvertiana''

F.Muell. Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria (state), Vic ...

(N.S.W.) * '' Epacris celata'' Crowden (N.S.W., Vic.) * '' Epacris cerasicollina'' Crowden (Tas.) * '' Epacris coriacea'' A.Cunn. ex DC. (N.S.W.) * '' Epacris corymbiflora'' Hook.f. (Tas.) * '' Epacris crassifolia'' R.Br. (N.S.W.) * '' Epacris curtisiae'' Jarman (Tas.) * '' Epacris decumbens'' ( I.Telford) E.A.Br. (N.S.W.) * '' Epacris exserta'' R.Br. – South Esk heath (Tas.) * '' Epacris franklinii'' Hook.f. (Tas.) * '' Epacris glabella'' Jarman – smooth heath (Tas.) * '' Epacris glacialis'' (F.Muell.) M.Gray (N.S.W., Vic.) * '' Epacris gnidioides'' ( Summerh.) E.A.Br. (N.S.W. * '' Epacris grandis'' Crowden (Tas.) * '' Epacris graniticola'' Crowden (Tas.) * '' Epacris gunnii'' Hook.f. - coral heath (N.S.W., Vic., Tas.) * '' Epacris hamiltonii''

Maiden Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

& Betche (N.S.W.) * '' Epacris heteronema'' Labill. (Tas.) * '' Epacris impressa'' Labill. - common or pink heath (Vic., N.S.W., S.A., Tas.) * '' Epacris lanuginosa'' Labill. - woolly-style heath (N.S.W., Vic., Tas.) * '' Epacris limbata'' K.J.Williams & F.Duncan (Tas.) * '' Epacris lithophila'' Crowden & Menadue (N.S.W.) * '' Epacris longiflora'' Cav. - fuchsia heath (Qld., N.S.W.) * '' Epacris marginata'' Melville (Tas.) * '' Epacris microphylla'' R.Br. - coral heath (Qld., N.S.W., Vic.) * '' Epacris moscaliana'' Crowden (Tas.) * '' Epacris mucronulata'' R.Br. (Tas.) * '' Epacris muelleri'' Sond. (N.S.W.) * '' Epacris myrtifolia'' Labill. (Tas.) * '' Epacris navicularis'' Jarman (Tas.) * ''

Epacris obtusifolia ''Epacris obtusifolia'', commonly known as blunt-leaf heath, 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-s ...

'' Sm. - blunt-leaf heath (Qld., N.S.W., Vic., Tas.) * '' Epacris paludosa'' R.Br. - swamp heath (N.S.W., A.C.T., Vic., Tas.) * '' Epacris pauciflora'' A.Rich. - tamingi (N.Z.) * '' Epacris petrophila'' Hook.f. - snow heath (N.S.W., A.C.T., Vic., Tas.) * '' Epacris pilosa'' Crowden (N.S.W.) * '' Epacris pinoidea'' Crowden & Menadue (N.S.W.) * '' Epacris pulchella'' Cav. – wallum heath (Qld., N.S.W.) * '' Epacris purpurascens''

Banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. As banks ...

Sims Sims, sims or SIMS may refer to: Games * ''The Sims'', a life simulation video game series ** ''The Sims'' (video game), the first installment, released in 2000 ** ''The Sims 2'', the second installment, released in 2004 ** ''The Sims 3'', the ...

- Port Jackson heath (N.S.W.) * '' Epacris reclinata'' A.Cunn. ex Benth. (N.S.W.) * '' Epacris rhombifolia'' ( L.R.Fraser & Vickery) Menadue (N.S.W., Vic.) * '' Epacris rigida'' Sieber ex Spreng. - keeled heath (N.S.W.) * '' Epacris robusta'' Benth. – round-leaf heath (N.S.W., A.C.T.) * '' Epacris serpyllifolia'' R.Br. - thyme heath (Tas.) * '' Epacris sinclairii'' Hook.f. - Sinclair's tamingi (N.Z.) * '' Epacris sparsa'' R.Br. (N.S.W.) * '' Epacris sprengelioides'' (Maiden & Betche) E.A.Br. (N.S.W.) * '' Epacris stuartii'' Stapf (Tas.) * '' Epacris tasmanica'' W.M.Curtis (Tas.) * '' Epacris virgata'' Hook.f. (Tas.)

Images

Image:Epacris_microphylla.jpg, '' Epacris microphylla'' Image:Epacris_pulchella.jpg, '' Epacris pulchella'' Image:Epacris purpurascens (Edwards).jpg, '' Epacris purpurascens''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2589976 Ericaceae genera