''Sprengelia propinqua'' 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 an erect, robust shrub with overlapping, stem-clasping, egg-shaped leaves, and white flowers crowded in upper leaf axils.

Description

''Sprengelia propinqua'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of up to . Its leaves overlap each other, have a stem-clasping base, and are egg-shaped, long and wide, crowded near the ends of branches. The flowers are crowded near 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 long and wide 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 white, joined at the base to form a tube long with narrowly lance-shaped lobes long. Flowering occurs from November to January.

Taxonomy

''Sprengelia propinqua'' was first formally described in 1839 by

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candol ...

in his ''

Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis ''Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis'' (1824–1873), also known by its standard botanical abbreviation ''Prodr. (DC.)'', is a 17-volume treatise on botany initiated by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle. De Candolle intended it as a summa ...

'' from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham of plants he collected near

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

. 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 ...

(''propinqua'') means "resembling".

Habitat and distribution

This sprengelia grows in heath and

sedge The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...

communities in high rainfall areas from sea level to altitudes above in Tasmania, including on the Southern and Central Highlands. It often co-exists with ''

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 ...

'', and sometimes hybridises with it.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q65949229 Epacridoideae propinqua Ericales of Australia Flora of Tasmania Plants described in 1839 Taxa named by Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle