''Sprengelia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 else ...

to eastern Australia. Plants in the genus ''Sprengelia'' are slender, erect or low-lying shrubs with overlapping, stem-clasping leaves, many bracts at the base of the flowers, the

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 coine ...

s egg-shaped, white or coloured, the five petals with spreading lobes, and the fruit a capsule. The genus ''Sprengelia'' was first formally described in 1794 by

James Edward Smith James Edward Smith may refer to: * James Edward Smith (botanist), English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society * James Edward Smith (murderer), American murderer * James Edward Smith (politician), Canadian businessman and mayor of Toronto * ...

in the journal ''Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Nya Handlingar'', later published in translation in ''Tracts relating to natural history''. The first species described was '' Sprengelia incarnata''. The genus name honours the German botanist

Christian Konrad Sprengel Christian Konrad Sprengel (22 September 1750 – 7 April 1816) was a German naturalist, theologist, and teacher. He is most famous for his research on plant sexuality. Sprengel was the first to recognize that the function of flowers was to ...

. The names of seven species are accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

: * '' Sprengelia distichophylla'' (Rodway) W.M.Curtis (Tas.) * '' Sprengelia incarnata'' Sm. - pink swamp-heath (S.A., N.S.W., Vic., Tas.) * '' Sprengelia minima'' Crowden (Tas.) * '' Sprengelia montana'' R.Br. (Tas.) * '' Sprengelia monticola'' (DC.) Druce - rock sprengelia (N.S.W) * '' Sprengelia propinqua'' A.Cunn. ex DC. (Tas.) * '' Sprengelia sprengelioides'' (R.Br.) Druce (Qld., N.S.W.)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q73572 Ericaceae genera Endemic flora of Australia