Epacris serpyllifolia

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.

Epacris serpyllifolia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Epacris
Species:
E. serpyllifolia
Binomial name
Epacris serpyllifolia
Synonyms[1]

Epacris serpyllifolia R.Br. var. serpyllifolia

Near the summit of Mount Wellington

Description

Epacris serpyllifolia is a prostrate, low-lying or weakly erect, sometimes bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 30 cm (12 in). Its leaves are egg-shaped, 2–6 mm (0.079–0.236 in) long, sometimes with a short point on the end. The flowers are borne in leaf axils near the ends of branches with often coloured sepals about 3 mm (0.12 in) long. The petal tube is slightly longer than the sepals and the petal lobes are shorter than the petal tube, and the anthers sometimes slightly longer than the petal tube.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy

Epacris serpyllifolia was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae.[5][6] The specific epithet (serpyllifolia) mean "wild thyme-leaved".[7]

Distribution

This epacris is endemic to Tasmania where it is widespread and abundant in alpine and subalpine areas.[8]

References
  1. "Epacris serpyllifolia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  2. Bentham, George; von Mueller, Ferdinand (1868). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 4. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 240. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  3. Rodway, Leonard (1903). The Tasmanian Flora. Hobart: Tasmanian Government Printer. p. 121. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  4. "Epacris serpyllifolia". anpsa.org.au. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
  5. "Epacris serpyllifolia". APNI. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  6. Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. London. p. 551. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  7. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 306. ISBN 9780958034180.
  8. Jordan, Greg. "Epacris serpyllifolia". University of Tasmania. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
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