''Epacris curtisiae'' 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 The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...

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 north-western Tasmania. It is a shrub with egg-shaped to almost circular leaves and tube-shaped white flowers crowded in upper leaf axils.

Description

''Epacris curtisiae'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of and has several erect, slender stems. Its leaves are more or less flat, egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, to more or less circular, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils forming clusters long at the ends of branches, each flower on a peduncle long. The five

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are egg-shaped to elliptic, long and tinged with pink and the

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s are white, joined at the base to form a white tube long. The five

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 and the

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

are enclosed within the petal tube.

Taxonomy and naming

''Epacris curtisiae'' was first formally described in 1988 by S. Jean Jarman in the '' Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania'' from specimens collected near the Nelson Bay River in 1985. 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 ...

(''curtisiae'') honours

Winifred Curtis Winifred Mary Curtis (15 June 1905 – 14 October 2005) was a United Kingdom, British-born Australian botanist, author and a pioneer researcher in plant embryology and cell (biology), cytology who played a prominent role in the department of bot ...

Distribution and habitat

This epacris grows in wet heathland at altitudes less than and is only known from a small rea of north-western Tasmania.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15376951 curtisiae Ericales of Australia Flora of Tasmania Plants described in 1988 Endemic flora of Australia