''Sprengelia montana'' is a species of flowering plant of the family

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 elsew ...

to Tasmania. It is a small, erect shrub with overlapping, stem-clasping, egg-shaped leaves, and pink flowers, sometimes in groups of up to 10 on the ends of branches.

Description

''Sprengelia montana'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of up to , often in or around alpine cushion plants. The leaves overlap each other, have a stem-clasping base, and are thick, egg-shaped, long and wide. The flowers are arranged singly, in pairs or groups of up to 10 in crowded heads on the ends of branches, with egg-shaped

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

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 coined b ...

s are narrowly lance-shaped, long and the petals are pink, joined at the base to form a tube long with lance-shaped lobes long. Flowering occurs from November to January. This species is similar to ''

Sprengelia incarnata ''Sprengelia incarnata'', commonly referred to as pink swamp-heath, is a species of flowering plant of the family Ericaceae, and is native to south-eastern Australia and New Zealand. It is an erect, glabrous shrub with sharply-pointed, stem-cla ...

'', but has spreading

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 ...

, unlike those of ''S. incarnata''.

Taxonomy

''Sprengelia montana'' was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a flora of Australia written by botanist Robert Brown and published in 1810. Often referred to as ''Prodromus Flora Novae ...

''. 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 ...

(''montana'') means "pertaining to a mountain".

Habitat and distribution

This sprengelia is moderately common in alpine and subalpine areas of Tasmania, including on

Ben Lomond Ben Lomond (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Laomainn, 'Beacon Mountain'), , is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros. Ben Lomond lies within the Ben Lomond National Me ...

, the Central Highlands and the Southern Ranges, where it grows in moist areas, often with or near cushion plants.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q65949213 Epacridoideae

montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

Ericales of Australia Flora of Tasmania Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)