Blunt-leaf heath facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Blunt-leaf heath |
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The Blunt-leaf Heath (Epacris obtusifolia) is a common plant that belongs to the heath family. You can find it growing in wet, swampy areas and heathlands across eastern Australia. This plant usually grows to be less than a metre tall. While its flowers can appear at any time of the year, you'll most often see them between July and January.
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Discover the Blunt-leaf Heath
What Does the Blunt-leaf Heath Look Like?
The Blunt-leaf Heath is a delicate shrub that can grow up to one metre (about 3 feet) tall. However, it's usually seen between 50 and 80 centimetres high. It has tiny, oval-shaped leaves that are about 6 to 11.5 millimetres long and 1.5 to 3 millimetres wide.
Its white, bell-shaped flowers grow along the stems. These flowers are quite small, only about 4 to 8 millimetres long. But because there are so many of them, they are easy to spot! They mostly bloom from July to January.
Where Does the Blunt-leaf Heath Grow?
You can find the Blunt-leaf Heath in wet heathlands in several parts of Australia. It grows in New South Wales (east of the Great Dividing Range), Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania.
In the Sydney area, it often grows near other plants. These include the coral fern (Gleichenia dicarpa), swamp banksia (Banksia robur), and a type of sedge called Lepidosperma limicola.
How Does the Blunt-leaf Heath Live and Grow?
Blunt-leaf Heath plants typically live for about ten to twenty years. If there's a bushfire, the plants are usually killed. However, they can grow back from seeds that have been sleeping in the soil. These new seedlings can start producing flowers within four years.
What's in a Name?
The scientific name for this plant is Epacris obtusifolia. The second part of its name, obtusifolia, comes from Latin. It means "thickly tipped blunt leaves," which describes its leaves very well!
The first time scientists officially recorded this plant was in 1805. An important English botanist named James Edward Smith published its description. The very first sample of the plant was collected in Sydney during the early days of Australian settlement.
Can You Grow the Blunt-leaf Heath?
Yes, you can! The Blunt-leaf Heath can be grown from cuttings. If you want to grow it in a garden, it needs a spot where the soil drains well but also stays moist. This plant was first grown in gardens in the United Kingdom in 1804.
