''Epacris sparsa'', is a small upright shrub with creamy-white flowers, elliptic to egg-shaped leaves and reddish new growth. It is endemic to New South Wales with a restricted distribution.

Description

''Epacris sparsa'' is an upright shrub high that forms a lignotuber. The brown branchlets are covered in fine, soft, short hairs and the new growth a reddish colour. The leaves are more or less upright, evenly spaced, elliptic to egg-shaped, long, wide, base wedge-shaped, smooth with slightly thicker flat margins, sharp apex and wide prominent leaf scars where leaves have fallen off. The petiole is long and has small, rough, hard hairs. The creamy white tubular flowers are borne singly in the upper leaf axils, either spreading or pendant, up to long, in diameter, tips of flowers have 5 lobes about long,

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

long, bracts pointed and the

sepals 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 ...

long. The fruit capsule is high. Flowering occurs from May to September.

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in '' Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis 1802-1805''. 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 ...

''(sparsa)'' is from the Latin ''sparsus'' meaning "scattered". In Alan Fairley's book "Seldom Seen -Rare Plants of Greater Sydney" he states "When Brown made the first collection, it had finished flowering, so he got the wrong impression. In fact, plants often bear many flowers".

Distribution and habitat

This species has a restricted distribution only known from four populations,

Faulconbridge Faulconbridge is a village located in the Blue Mountains 77 km west of Sydney, New South Wales and is 450 metres above sea level. At the 2016 census, Faulconbridge had a population of 4,025 people. History and description The Faulconbrid ...

, Grose River area, north of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

and Avoca Vale Reserve. It is found growing in shady, rocky, wet situations in nutrient poor clay or sandy soils. It tolerates periods of high rainfall.

Conservation status

''Epacris sparsa'' is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' and the New South Wales '' Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15377298 sparsa Ericales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)