''Epacris pinoidea'' is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to a small area of eastern New South Wales. It is an erect to semi-erect shrub with flat, oblong to elliptic or lance-shaped leaves and white, tube-shaped flowers.

Description

''Epacris pinoidea'' is a semi-erect to erect shrub that typically grows to a height of up to , rarely higher and has glabrous, reddish-brown young branches that turn brown with age and have prominent leaf scars. The leaves are oblong to elliptic or lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a petiole less than long. The flowers are arranged in small clusters near the ends of the branches, each flower on a

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about long, with egg-shaped, cream-coloured

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 near the base. The sepals are oblong to egg-shaped, long. The petals are white and joined at the base, forming a bell-shaped tube long with lobes long. The style is long and is slightly longer than the

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. Flowering occurs in January and February.

Taxonomy and naming

''Epacris pinoidea'' was first formally described in 1996 by

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and

Yvonne Menadue Yvonne is a female given name. It is the feminine form of Yvon, which is derived from the French name Yves and Yvette. It is from the French word ''iv'', meaning "yew" (or tree). Since yew wood was used for bows, Ivo may have been an occupatio ...

in the '' Annals of Botany'' based on plant material collected in the Blue Mountains in 1975. 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 ...

(''pinoidea'') refers to the resemblance of young plants to a pine seedling.

Distribution and habitat

This epacris grows in sandstone rock fissures in forest on the ranges from the Grose River to the

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 ...

of eastern New South Wales.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15376566 pinoidea Ericales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1996