AUSTRALIAN HEATHS 351 



AUSTRALIAN HEATHS 



Natural Order EpaoiudEvK. Genus Epacris 



Epacris (Greek, epi, upon, and nkrifi, the summit of a mountain). A 

 genus of about twenty-six species of erect, greenhouse shrubs, similar to 

 Heaths in their general appearance and the places where they grow, but 

 differing from Erica, in the flowers being symmetrically five-parted, in 

 the stamens being attached to the corolla-tube instead of to the disk, 

 and in the anthers being only one-celled without appendages. The 

 flowers are borne in the axils of the leaves, usually forming leafy spikes. 

 The calyx is coloured, and surrounded by many overlapping bracts. 

 Leaves scattered, usually lance-shaped, or heart-shaped, sharply pointed. 

 They are natives of the Extra-tropical regions of Australia, New Zealand, 

 and New Caledonia. 



History Australian Heaths were, of course, unknown in old- 



fashioned gardening establishments, for the sufficient reason 

 that their native land had not been explored. The first species to be 

 introduced were E. piirpiirascens and E. longiflora, from New South 

 Wales in 1803, followed next year by E. ohtusifolia. E. acuminata 

 and E. impressa date from 1824, when they were brought from New 

 Holland. Although they have been subject to cultivation for a period 

 comparatively short, they have yielded good results in a long list of 

 varieties and hybrids, superior in most cases to the natural forms from 

 which they have been derived. About one hundred named varieties arc 

 grown by nurserymen who make a speciality of Epacris. 

 Frincipai Species EPACiiis ACU.MIXATA (sharp-pointed). Stem branched, 



bushy, 2 to 3 feet high. Leaves oval, erect, concave, 

 clasping the stem. Flowers few, red; calyx-lobes almost as long as 

 corolla-tube ; corolla-lobes blunt ; April to June. 



E. IMPRESSA (engraved). Stems loosely-branched, 2 to 3 feet high. 

 Leaves lance-shaped, varying in width, stalkless. Flowers varying in 

 form., colour, and size ; some almost bell-shaped, others a slender-cylinder ; 

 all shades from white to deep red ; from i- to |-inch long ; April to 

 June. The corolla is marked near its base, on the outside, with five 

 impressed spots, which alternate with the positions of the anthers above 

 and within. Plate 167. 



E. LOXGIFLORA (long-flowered). Stems 2 to 4 feet high, with 

 straggling downy branches. Leaves broad -lance -shaped, rounded or 

 heart-shaped at base. Flowers cylindrical, slightly curved, drooping, 



