''Epacris decumbens '' is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of New South Wales. It is a straggling, low-lying shrub with hairy branchlets, elliptic to egg-shaped leaves, and tube-shaped, white flowers.

Description

''Epacris decumbens'' is a straggling, low-lying shrub that typically grows to a height of up to and has shaggy-hairy stems up to long. The leaves are elliptic to egg-shaped, long and wide on a hairy petiole long. The flowers are in diameter and arranged singly on a

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 ...

about long, the sepals long. The petal tube is long, the lobes long. Flowering occurs in November and December and the fruit is a capsule about in diameter.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1992 by

Ian R.H. Telford Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in S ...

who gave it the name ''Rupicola decumbens'' in the journal '' Telopea'' from specimens he collected with Michael Crisp, near Glen Davis in 1976. In 2015,

Elizabeth Anne Brown Elizabeth Anne Brown (15 November 1956 – 17 November 2013) was a New Zealand-born Australian bryologist who primarily contributed to the systematics of liverworts. Early life and education Brown was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 15 Nov ...

changed the name to ''Epacris decumbens'' in '' Australian Systematic Botany''. 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 ...

(''decumbens'') means "prostrate but with the tips rising upwards", referring to the habit of the plant.

Distribution and habitat

''Epacris decumbens'' grows on sandstone clifs, ledges and rock crevices in the Glen Davis and

Cudgegong River Cudgegong River, a perennial stream that is part of the Macquarie catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the central western and Orana districts of New South Wales, Australia. The river rises of the western slopes of the ...

areas of New South Wales.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15376877 crassifolia Ericales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)