Elongated cluster of Spengelia incarnata flowers

''Sprengelia incarnata'', commonly referred to as pink swamp-heath, is a species of flowering plant of the family

Ericaceae The Ericaceae are a 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 c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...

, and is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

to south-eastern Australia and New Zealand. It is an erect,

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin '' glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") 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 o ...

shrub with sharply-pointed, stem-clasping, egg-shaped leaves, and clusters of pink, tube-shaped flowers with spreading lobes.

Description

''Sprengelia incarnata'' is an erect,

shrub that typically grows to a height of , and has reddish-brown to red stems. The leaves are egg-shaped to lance-shaped, long and wide, with a stem-clasping base and a sharp point long on the tip. The flowers are borne in clusters of 3 to 20 in spikes long near the ends of stems, with bracts and

bracteoles In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

long at the base. 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 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s are usually pink, narrowly triangular to lance-shaped and long and the petals are usually pink, joined at the base to form a tube long with spreading, narrowly triangular lobes long. Flowering mainly occurs from June to October or December and the fruit is a capsule long. The Tasmanian endemics ''

Richea sprengelioides ''Richea sprengelioides'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae. It is one of the 11 species within the genus ''Richea'' that are endemic to Australia, of which 9 are found only in Tasmania. The species was first formally descr ...

'' and '' R. procera'' are similar, but have leaf scars on the stems that are not present on the smooth stems of ''S. incarnata''.

Taxonomy

''Sprengelia incarnata'' was first formally described in 1794 by James Edward Smith in ''Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Nya Handlingar''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''incarnata'') means "flesh-coloured".

Habitat and distribution

Native to Australia and New Zealand, ''Sprengelia incarnata'' can be found growing in the wet swamps and heathlands in many of Australia’s south-eastern regions, and a select few areas of New Zealand. The species only occurs in the far south-east of South Australia, including on

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southw ...

, in the southern half of Victoria, and on the coast and nearby tablelands of New South Wales south from

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggir ...

. Pink swamp-heath is widespread and abundant in Tasmania, where is it found in almost all wet and peaty landscapes, ranging from sea level to the highest mountains. It is considered at high risk and naturally uncommon in New Zealand, where it is only found in the

Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park occupies the southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. It is by far the largest of the 13 national parks in New Zealand, with an area of , and a major part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site. The park ...

and on Resolution Island.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7580321 Epacridoideae incarnata Ericales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of South Australia Flora of Tasmania Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of New Zealand Plants described in 1794 Taxa named by James Edward Smith