''Epacris barbata'', commonly known as bearded heath, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of Tasmania. It is an erect shrub with lance-shaped leaves and white, tube-shaped flowers with hairy sepals.

Description

''Epacris barbata'' is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of up to long and has many robust branches. The leaves are lance-shaped, long and wide on a petiole less than long. The leaves are sharply pointed and the edges curve downwards. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils near the tips of the branches, white and more or less sessile. The sepals are densely covered with soft hairs and the petals are joined at the base, forming a bell-shaped tube long with lobes long. The style is long and 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, protrudes slightly beyond the petal tube. Flowering occurs in spring.

Taxonomy and naming

''Epacris barbata'' was first formally described in 1952 by Ronald Melville in the '' Kew Bulletin'' from specimens collected by Winifred Curtis at Coles Bay in 1946. 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 ...

(''barbata'') means "bearded".

Distribution and habitat

Bearded heath is restricted to the

Freycinet Peninsula The Freycinet Peninsula is a large peninsula located on the eastern coast of Tasmania, Australia. The peninsula is located north of Schouten Island and is contained within the Freycinet National Park. The locality of Freycinet is in the local go ...

and nearby Schouten Island where it grows in heath and heathy woodland on granite.

Conservation status

''Epacris barbata'' is classified as "endangered" under the Australian Government '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' and the Tasmanian Government '' Threatened Species Protection Act 1995''. The main threat to the species is dieback due to the fungus '' Phytophthora cinnamomi''.

References

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Ericales of Australia Flora of Tasmania Plants described in 1952