''Epacris acuminata '', commonly known as claspleaf heath, is a species of flowering plant in the heath

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Ericaceae and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to Tasmania. It is a small, spreading shrub with egg-shaped, stem-clasping leaves and tube-shaped flowers with white petals.

Description

''Epacris acuminata'' is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of up to , and has many branches from near the base. The leaves are egg-shaped, concave and stem-clasping, long and wide on a petiole less than long. The tip of the leaves is sharply-pointed and there are five to seven veins showing on the lower surface. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils in dense clusters along the branches. The petals are white and joined at the base, forming a tube long with lobes about the same length. The style is long and protrudes from the petal tube with the

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s. Flowering occurs from July to October and the fruit is a capsule about long with the remains of the sepals and bracts attached.

Taxonomy and naming

''Epacris acuminata'' was first formally described in 1868 by George Bentham in '' Flora Australiensis''. 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 ...

(''acuminata'') means "tapering to a narrow point".

Distribution and habitat

Claspleaf heath grows in low shrubland on mountain peaks, in heathy woodland, forest and along watercourse. It occurs in the south-east, the midlands and the eastern edge of the Central Plateau in Tasmania.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15375816 acuminata Ericales of Australia Flora of Tasmania Plants described in 1868 Taxa named by George Bentham