Epacris crassifolia
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. DescriptionEpacris crassifolia is a low-lying shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 20 cm (7.9 in) and has stems with prominent leaf scars. The leaves are elliptic to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 5–13 mm (0.20–0.51 in) long and 1.5–7 mm (0.059–0.276 in) wide on a petiole 0.6–1.8 mm (0.024–0.071 in) long. The flowers are arranged in clusters near the ends of branches and are white or cream-coloured, tube-shaped and swollen near the middle, their size depending on subspecies, on a peduncle 1.5–5 mm (0.059–0.197 in) long. Flowering occurs from November to January and the fruit is a capsule 1.4–2.8 mm (0.055–0.110 in) long.[2][3] TaxonomyEpacris crassifolia was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.[4][5] The specific epithet (crassifolia) means "thick-leaved".[6] In 1996, R.K. Crowden and Yvonne Menadue described two subspecies of E. crassifolia and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
Distribution and habitatThis epacris grows on sandstone rock ledges and in rock crevices on the Central and South Coasts of New South Wales and inland as far as the Blue Mountains. References
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