''Epacris apiculata '' is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It is a small, slender, low-lying to erect shrub with hairy branchlets, egg-shaped leaves with a thickened, pointed tip and tube-shaped flowers with white petals.

Description

''Epacris apiculata'' is a slender, low lying to erect shrub with stems up to long, the branchlets covered with white hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped with a thickened, pointed tip, mostly long and wide and glabrous. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils on a

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

long, the sepals long. The petals are white and joined at the base, forming a tube long with lobes long. The

anthers 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 filam ...

are long and the style is long. Flowering occurs from October to January and the fruit is a glabrous capsule about long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Epacris apiculata'' was first formally described in 1825 by Allan Cunningham in Barron Field's ''Geographical Memoirs on New South Wales'' based on plant material he collected on

Kings Tableland The Kings Tableland is a plateau, located in the Blue Mountains in Wollondilly Shire, New South Wales, Australia. The ridge is an eroded remnant of a sandstone layer that is approximately AMSL, situated immediately south of Wentworth Falls. The ...

. 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 ...

(''apiculata'') means "ending abruptly in a small point".

Distribution and habitat

This epacris grows in damp places on rock ledges at altitudes between in the Blue Mountains of eastern New South Wales.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15376062 apiculata Ericales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1825 Taxa named by Allan Cunningham (botanist)