Epacris gunnii Hook.f. APNI* Synonyms: Epacris microphylla var. gunnii (Hook.f.) Benth. APNI*
Description: An erect shrub to 1m high with few slender branches; young branches rounded to ribbed, brown, pubescent; old stems dark brown, bare with raised, crescentric leaf scars.
Leaves evenly spaced extending well down branches, spreading to reflexed, ovate to deltoid, 2.0–7.0 mm long, 1.6–6.0 mm wide, glabrous, mainly straight, sometimes reflexed towards tip (rarely tip inflexed), apex acute to acuminate with tip mucronate, pungent, base cordate to saggitate, margins sometimes partly hyaline, scabrid, midrib forms weak keel, 3–5 inconspicuous veins; petiole 0.5–1.0 mm long, glabrous, appressed to stem.
Flowers white, 5.0 mm diam, clustered near apex then spreading down branch for 20–30 cm, erect, pedicel up to 1mm long; bracts white, ovate, glabrous, apex acute, margin ciliolate; sepals white or with red-tinge, elliptic to ovate, 1.7–3.5 mm long, glabrous, apex acute, margin entire to ciliolate; corolla tube campanulate, 1.5–2.5 mm long, shorter than the sepals, glabrous; lobes flat, apex obtuse, bases only just overlapping, lobes longer than the tube; corolla deciduous. Anthers exserted, angled at the throat, red-brown, 0.5–0.7 mm long on free filaments equal in length. Pollen grains psilate. Ovary ribbed, globular, c. 1.5 mm diam., glabrous; stigma below base of anthers ± rounded; style cylindrical, shorter than tube, 0.5–0.8 mm long; nectary scales triangular or truncate, 1/2 ovary length.
Capsule 1.4–1.8 mm diam., enclosed by calyx.
Flowering: September to December in Tasmania. NSW– April to October.
Distribution and occurrence: Sea level to 1200m, in wet, peaty sites with Ranunculus ssp., Sprengelia incarnata, Leptospermum glaucescens. Often alongside creeks. NSW In sandy soil in dry sclerophyll forest with Euc haemastoma, Hakea dactyloides, Petrophile fucifolia, Leptospermum attenuatum, 600m (Coveny 2964)
NSW subdivisions: CC, NT, CT, ST
ECOLOGY
Life History
Flowers Pink--white, March--October, peak August.
Habitat
Habitat Hillsides, ridgetops.
Altitude 0--1100 m
Annual rainfall 900--1400 mm
Typical local abundance Frequent--occasional.
Vegetation Heath e.g. with Banksia ericifolia, Eucalyptus stricta; woodland with Eucalyptus punctata, E. tenellus; open-forest e.g. with Angophora costata, Eucalyptus haemastoma, E. dalrympleana, E. dives, E. pauciflorum.
Substrate Sandy to clay soil on sandstone, granite, low nutrients, poorly-drained.
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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