''Epacris moscaliana'', commonly known as seepage heath, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a bushy shrub with wand-like branches, narrowly lance-shaped to egg-shaped or round leaves, and bell-shaped white flowers in clusters at the ends of the branches.

Description

''Epacris moscaliana'' is a bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of up to , sometimes up to in sheltered sites, and has wand-like branches. Its leaves are narrowly lance-shaped to egg-shaped or round, long and wide on a petiole up to half the length of the leaf blade. The flowers are arranged in small clusters near the ends of branches with egg-shaped pinkish

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s at the base. The five sepals are tinged with pink, egg-shaped and long. 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 bell-shaped tube long with five lobes that are longer than the tube. The style and

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 ...

extend well beyond the end of the tube.

Taxonomy and naming

''Epacris moscaliana'' was first formally described in 1995 by R.K.Crowden in the journal '' Muelleria'' from specimens he collected in 2003 near the Dukes River in north-eastern Tasmania. 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 ...

(''moscaliana'') honours the plant collector
Tony Moscal

Distribution and habitat

Seepage heath grows in marsh edges and on the edges of watercourses in north-eastern Tasmania.

Conservation status

''Epacris moscaliana'' is listed as "rare" under the Tasmanian Government '' Threatened Species Protection Act 1995''. The main threats to the species are land clearing and weed invasion, inappropriate fire regimes and disease caused by '' Phytophthora cinnamomi''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q61717310 moscalina Ericales of Australia Flora of Tasmania Plants described in 2007 Endemic flora of Australia