Epacris sparsa

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms  > Eudicots > Asterids > Ericales > Ericaceae > Epacris sparsa  

Other links:

Plant  information

Common name:               ...

Conservation status:   Vulnerable

• Epacris sparsa is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016

Etymology:   

• The specific epithet (sparsa) is from the Latin sparsus meaning "scattered" 

Flowers:                  

• Creamy-white flowers, elliptic 

• The creamy white tubular flowers are borne singly in the upper leaf axils, either spreading or pendant

• Up to 19.2 mm long, 4–5 mm in diameter

• Tips of flowers have 5 lobes about 4 mm long

• Peduncle 3.5–4.5 mm long

• Bracts pointed and the sepals 3–3.6 mm long

Fruit:                         

• The fruit capsule is 1.4–1.8 mm high

• Flowering occurs from May to September

Leaves:         

• Egg-shaped leaves and reddish new growth

• The leaves are more or less upright, evenly spaced

• Elliptic to egg-shaped, 11.2–17.0 mm long, 3.0–3.8 mm wide

• Base wedge-shaped, smooth with slightly thicker flat margins, sharp apex and wide

• Prominent leaf scars where leaves have fallen off.

• The petiole is 1.5–2 mm long and has small, rough, hard hairs

Stem & branches:   

• The brown branchlets are covered in fine, soft, short hairs and the new growth a reddish colour

Roots:         

• x

Habit:        

• It is an upright shrub 60–90 cm high that forms a lignotuber

Habitat:   

• It is found growing in shady, rocky, wet situations in nutrient poor clay or sandy soils

• It tolerates periods of high rainfall

Distribution:                  

• It is endemic to NSW with a restricted distribution

• This species has a restricted distribution only known from four populations, Faulconbridge, Grose River area, north of Richmond and Avoca Vale Reserve 

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy and naming

  • This species was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis 1802-1805

  • In Alan Fairley's book "Seldom Seen -Rare Plants of Greater Sydney" he states "When Brown made the first collection, it had finished flowering, so he got the wrong impression

  • In fact, plants often bear many flowers"

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epacris_sparsa (2023)