''Epacris gnidioides'', commonly known as Budawangs cliff-heath, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of New South Wales. It is a small, creeping shrub with hairy branches, sharply-pointed lance-shaped leaves, and tube-shaped, white flowers. Originally described as ''Rupicola gnidioides'', it was at one time regarded as the only species in the genus ''Budawangia'' under the synonym ''Budawangia gnidioides''.

Description

''Epacris gnidioides'' is a creeping,

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

-forming shrub with branches up to long. Its leaves are lance-shaped, long and wide on a petiole about long. The leaves are thin, concave and covered with long, soft hairs. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long, the sepals long. The petals are white and form a tube long, the lobes long and tapered. Flowering occurs from September to February and the fruit is a capsule about long.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1927 by Victor Samuel Summerhayes who gave it the name ''Rupicola gnidioides'' in the '' Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information'' based on specimens collected in 1927 by Frederick A. Rodway near the Ettrema River, south west of Nowra in a "cleft in sandstone cliff". In 1992,

Ian Telford Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

moved the species to his newly created genus ''Budawangia'' as ''Budawangia gnidioides'' in the journal '' Telopea''. It was the only species in the genus. In 2015,

Elizabeth Anne Brown Elizabeth Anne Brown (15 November 1956 – 17 November 2013) was a New Zealand-born Australian bryologist who primarily contributed to the systematics of liverworts. Early life and education Brown was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 15 Nov ...

transferred the species to ''

Epacris ''Epacris'' is a genus of about forty species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. It was formerly treated in a closely related but separate family Epacridaceae, but the various genera within Epacridaceae including ''Epacris'' have been ...

'' as ''Epacris gnidioides'' based on a phylogenetic study which found that ''Rupicola'' and ''Budawangia'' were embedded within ''Epacris''. (DOI paywalled, proof copy a

) , sources such as the Australian Plant Census and

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

accept the name ''Epacris gnidioides'', regarding ''Rupicola gnidioides'' and ''Budawangia gnidioides'' as a

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

Distribution and habitat

Budawangs cliff-heath grows in rock crevices and on sandy ledges at the base of sandstone cliffs on the edges of forest and heath and is only known from the northern

Budawang Range The Budawang Range, commonly called The Budawangs, a rugged mountain range within the Budawang National Park and the Morton National Park, are part of a spur off the Great Dividing Range and are located in the South Coast region of New South Wal ...

in south-eastern New South Wales.

Conservation status

''Epacris gnidioides'' is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (EPBC) Act and the New South Wales '' Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016''. The main threats to its survival are its narrow distribution, inappropriate fire regimes, and use of sandstone caves for camping.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q65937558, from2=Q4984092, from3=Q15940385, from4=Q65947703 gnidioides Ericales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1927